^^^^  PRACTICAL 
LI  FE  VORpK  sf 
HENRY  DRUMMOND 

H^ITH  INmODUCTION  6y 

HAMILTON  W.  MABIL 


Ty 


practical  ilife  im 

Henrp  Urummonti 

By  / 

CUTHBERT  LENNOX 

With  an  Introduction  by 
HAMILTON  W.   MABIE 


NEW  YORK 
JAMES  POTT  &  COMPANY 

1901 


Copyright  igoi. 
By  James  Pott  &  Company 


TO 

MY    WIFE 

WITH  ACKNOWLEDGMENT  OF  MUCH  HELP 
IN  THE  PREPARATION  OF  MATERIAL  AND 
REVISION  OF  PROOFS,  THIS  LITTLE  BOOK 
IS,  WITHOUT  PERMISSION,  AFFECTIONATELY 
DEDICATED 


PREFACE 


rriHE  present  biographical  sketch  seeks  to  recall,  and 
-■-  to  record  in  a  somewhat  permanent  form,  the  story 
of  Professor  Drummond's  work  for  and  with  University 
students,  as  well  as  to  bring  together,  in  simple  narrative, 
the  outstanding  facts  of  his  life.  The  writer  had  the 
fortune  to  be  called  upon  to  take  considerable  part  in 
the  Students'  Movement  in  Edinburgh  University  in  its 
earliest  stages,  and  in  that  connection  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Professor  Drummond.  In  his  case,  as 
in  that  of  hundreds  of  others,  friendship  and  inter- 
course with  Drummond  became  a  source  of  inspiration 
and  gave  birth  to  a  deep  regard. 

For  readers  who  did  not  know  Drummond,  and 
especially  for  those  of  them  who  take  an  interest  in 
aggressive  Christian  work,  this  little  book  may  have 
some  distinctive  value,  in  so  far  as  it  affords  clues  for 
tracing  the  evolution  of  an  evangelist  of  great  gifts, 
and  records  his  methods.  From  his  early  years  onwards, 
evangelism  was  the  master-passion  of  Drummond's  re- 
ligious life,  and  we  can  form  some  estimate  of  the 
vitality  of  that  passion  when  we  follow  his  exceptional 
career,  and  note  the  ease  with  which  he  was  able  to 


viii  PREFACE 

adapt  himself  to  widely  differing  environments,  without 
loss  of  enthusiasm  or  of  usefulness.  His  methods  of 
work  necessarily  shared  in  the  process  of  development 
or  adaptation.  Few  can  hope  to  speak  as  he  did, 
or  love  as  he  did ;  but  everyone  who  succeeds  him  in 
the  particular  fields  of  evangelistic  effort  to  which  he 
devoted  himself  may  profit  by  his  experience,  unique 
as  it  undoubtedly  was. 

To  an  impatient  public,  three  years  ago,  Professor 
George  Adam  Smith  gave  Drummond's  Letters  and 
Journals,  along  with  a  chronological  account  of  his 
life-work,  and  his  volume  will  retain  a  permanent  value 
for  the  friends  of  Professor  Drummond,  in  so  far  at 
least  as  it  contributes  that  autobiographic  matter  which 
is  always  of  prime  interest  to  those  who  have  been  a 
man's  intimates.  In  the  preparation  of  the  present 
sketch,  a  less  exhaustive  method  has  been  adopted ; 
but  the  subject-matter  has  equal  claims  to  originality. 
The  information  which  it  seeks  to  convey  is  not,  in  any 
sense,  derived  from  Dr.  Smith's  book.  Many  of  the  facts 
here  mentioned,  and  some  of  the  quotations,  necessarily 
appear  in  both  volumes,  but  the  writer  has  gathered 
all  his  information  at  first  hand,  where  his  personal 
knowledge  was  deficient.  Not  the  least  valuable 
contributions  to  his  work  have  been  obtained  from  re- 
collections, letters,  and  other  biographical  matter  kindly 
placed  at  his  disposal  by  a  number  of  private  individuals 
who  had  the  privilege  of  intimate  friendship  with  Pro- 
fessor Drummond.  To  these  friends,  and  to  others  who 
have  afforded  various  facilities  for  research,  and  have 
rendered  courteous  assistance,  heartiest  acknowledgments 


PREFACE  ix 

are  due  and  tendered.  It  is  in  accordance  with  the 
wish  of  the  persons  concerned  that  their  names  are  not 
here  mentioned,  and  the  writer  is  restricted  to  offering 
his  thanks  to  them  in  this  impersonal  fashion. 

It  remains  to  be  confessed  that,  in  the  quest  for 
biographical  data,  considerable  limitations  have  been 
discovered,  even  in  regard  to  Professor  Drummond's 
evangelistic  work,  which  has,  for  the  present  purpose, 
a  preponderating  interest.  As  Dr.  John  Watson  has 
said,  "  the  biography  of  Drummond  cannot  be  a  chronicle ; 
it  must  be  a  suggestion."  In  consequence  of  the  con- 
fidential nature  of  much  of  his  intercourse  with  men, 
by  letter  or  by  word  of  mouth,  and  his  horror  of  the 
attentions  of  the  reporter  and  the  interviewer,  most  of 
the  common  sources  of  information  have  been  sealed 
up.  Then,  too,  certain  of  the  chapters  in  the  following 
pages,  and  notably  those  dealing  with  his  work  in 
America  and  in  Australasia,  are  not  so  solidly  built 
upon  detailed  fact  as  could  have  been  wished.  In 
large  measure,  this  may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  the 
meagre  facilities  afforded  in  this  country  for  consulting 
files  of  transatlantic  and  antipodean  periodical  literature. 
But  as  books,  "  like  invisible  scouts,  permeate  the  whole 
habitable  globe,"  it  is  not  beyond  possibility  that  this 
little  volume  may  by  and  by  come  into  the  hands  of 
those  whose  personal  knowledge  could  largely  supple- 
ment our  somewhat  halting  account  of  Professor  Drum- 
mond's sayings  and  doings  in  other  lands  than  his  own, 
and  time  may  yet  yield  a  fuller  story  of  these  phases  of 
his  work. 

A    Bibliography   of    the   literary   work   of    Professor 


X  PREFACE 

Drummond,  and  of  the  literary  expressions  which  his 
work  stimulated  in  others,  would  form,  in  itself,  no 
mean  monument  of  his  fame.  "While  the  writer  cannot 
claim  to  have  exhausted  research  in  this  direction,  the 
notes  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  constitute 
a  fairly  comprehensive  record ;  and,  as  they  supply 
information  that  has  not  been  collected  and  tabulated 
anywhere  else,  they  may  add  to  the  value  of  this 
volume. 

CUTHBERT  LENNOX. 

Edinburgh,  Ajpril  1901. 


TABLE    OF    CO:^^TENTS 


PAGE 

Preface      «,.,...>       vii 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth — Parentage — Boyhood. 

William  Drummond,  his  grandfather  —  Peter  Drummond,  his 
uncle — Henry  Drummond,  senior,  his  father — His  birth  at 
Stirling  —  Childhood  —  Boyish  sports  —  Schooldays  —  First 
religious  experience  —  Early  scientifie  bent  —  Choice  of  an 
occupation.        ......  .1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Student  Life. 

Edinburgh  University — "The  PhUomathic" — The  influence  of 
books  —  His  first  literary  work  —  His  humorous  instincts — 
Mesmeric  powers  —  New  College,  Edinburgh  —  His  fellow- 
students — Dr.  John  "Watson's  reminiscences — Scientific  studies 
at  the  University — Semester  atTiibingen — "  The  Theological " 
— His  essay  on  "  Spiritual  Diagnosis  " .  ...  8 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Moody  Campaign. 

"Visit  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey — Drummond  throws  himself 
into  the  work — Deputations — He  interrupts  his  College  course 
to  assist  the  evangelists — Sunderland — Newcastle  and  Hartle- 
pool— Belfast  and  Dublin — Manchester  and  SheflSeld — Liver- 
pool— London — His  mature  opinion  of  the  campaign  ,  .        24 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  17. 

The  Moody  Campaign— (confowwe^f). 

PAGE 

Liverpool  Convention — His  answers  as  question-drawer — "How  to 
conduct  a  Young  Men's  Meeting" — Evangelism  becomes  his 
master-passion — His  admiration  for  Moody — His  individual 
message  .,,..,.        29 

CHAPTER  V. 

At  the  Pabtin'5  of  the  Wats. 

Heart  -  searching  as  to  his  vocation — His  return  to  College — 
Meetings  in  the  Gaiety  Theatre — Gaiety  Club — Assistant  at 
the  Barclay  Church — The  most  miserable  time  in  his  life — 
Appointment  to  lectureship  on  Natural  Science — Malta  .        43 

CHAPTER  VI. 

His  Chair. 

The  Free  Church  and  Natural  Science — Duties  of  the  lectureship 
— Its  limitations — Erection  of  chair  of  Natural  Science — 
Drummond  elected  Professor  —  His  ordination  —  "The 
Stupidity  Exam." — Class  excursions — With  his  students  in 
Arran — Declines  Principalship  of  M 'Gill  University    .  .        49 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Evangelism  in  Glasgow. 

Occupation  of  spare  time — Will  not  preach — Unwillingness  to 
take  part  in  social  functions  and  public  meetings — Possilpark 
Mission  Church — His  success  in  its  conduct — His  intimacy 
with  Dr.  Marcus  Dods — Other  evangelistic  work — His  interest 
in  the  "  Pleasant  Sunday  Afternoon "  movement         .  ,        66 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Moody's  Second  Campaign. 

Return  of  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey — Drummond  joins  them 
in  Glasgow — Spends  the  summer  in  co-operating  with  them 
in  Scotland,  England,  and  Wales         ,  ,  .  ,62 


CONTENTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  IX. 

''Natural  Law  in  the  Spirittjal  World." 

PAOB 

Clerical  World  papers — "Nature  abhors  a  Vacuum" — The  idea 
strikes  him — Its  reception  by  the  Glasgow  Theological  Club 
— The  Orphanage  pamphlet  —  The  MS.  twice  declined — 
Publication  —  Contents  of  volume  as  published  —  The 
Spectator  review — Editions  published — The  flood  of  criticism 
— Drummond's  ultimate  views  .....         66 

CHAPTER  X. 

In  Central  Africa. 

News  of  success  of  his  book  reaches  him  in  Central  Africa — 
His  mission — The  African  Lakes  Company — Zanzibar — Scene 
of  Mrs.  Livingstone's  death — Explores  Lake  Shirwa — The 
Scottish  Livingstonia  Mission — The  Tanganyika  forest — On 
African  fever — Moolu — His  journey  homewards — Addresses 
on  Africa — Tropical  Africa      .  ,  ,  ,  .77 

CHAPTER  XL 

Among  the  Upper  Ten  Thousand. 

His  fame  —  Invitation  to  conduct  "West  End  meetings  —  First 
series  :  his  programme — Article  in  the  World — Second  series 
of  meetings — Friendship  with  Lord  and  Lady  Aberdeen — 
Honours  offered  to  him — Results  of  the  "West  End  meetings  ,        85 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Edinburgh  Students'  Revival. 

The  inception  of  the  movement — Visit  of  Messrs.  Studd  and  Smith — 
Professor  Drummond  called  on  to  continue  the  work — His  re- 
ception— His  personality — Methods  of  work — The  personal 
encounter — His  message  i  •  .  ,  .        95 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Edinburgh  Work  :  Irs  Development. 

"Drummond's    Meetings"  —  Deputation    work  —  The    Students' 

Holiday  Mission — The  work  continued — Appreciation  .       109 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Visits  to  America. 

PAGB 

Trip  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  1879— Visit  to  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey — Drummond's  comments  on  their  revised  methods — 
Revisits  America  in  1887 — At  Northfield — At  Chautauquan 
Summer  Gatherings — Dissatisfaction  at  Northfield — Visit  to 
the  principal  Universities — His  third  visit,  in  1893 — At 
Harvard  and  Amherst — Chautauqua  again — Students'  Con- 
ference at  Northfield — The  Evangelical  Alliance  Congress  at 
Chicago.  ,...•.•       116 

CHAPTER  XV. 

In  Australia  and  the  Far  East. 

Drummond  invited  to  visit  the  Australian  Colleges — Sets  out  in 
1890 — Arrival  in  Melbourne — Death  of  Mr.  Ewing — Melbourne 
and  Sydney— China  and  Japan — His  observations  on  the 
problem  of  Foreign  Missions      ,  .  .  .  .127 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

South  Sea  Problems. 

Drummond  visits  the  New  Hebrides — On  the  Kanaka  traffic — 
South  Sea  missionaries  —  Among  the  cannibals  —  Scientific 
exploration        ...•#•  137 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

His  Booklets. 

Publication  of  addresses  wrung  from  Drummond— His  literary 
method  —  The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World  —  Pax 
Vdbiscum  —  The  Programme  of  Christianity  —  The  City 
without  a  Church  —  The  Changed  Life — World-wide  recep- 
tion of  the  booklets       .  .  .  •  .  .145 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Misunderstood. 

Repeated  attacks  upon  Drummond's  teaching— The  relations  of 
science  and  religion— His  attitude  towards  criticism — The  diffi- 
culty at  Northfield— Mr.  Moody's  opinion — Interviewers  and 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGB 

reporters — Attacks  on  his  students'  meetings — Irresponsible 
criticism  of  address  on  missions — A  charge  of  heresy — Mis- 
understood       .......      152 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

"The  Ascent  of  Man." 

The  Lowell  Institute  Lectures — Enthusiastic  reception — Publica- 
tion of  The  Ascent  of  Man — Sketch  of  its  principal  contents 
— Criticism — Discussed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free 
Church  ........       165 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Scientific  Work. 

Drummond's  contributions  to  scientific  literature — His  early  efforts 
— His  vocation  —  Natural  Laiv  in  the  Spiritual  World  — 
African  research — Appreciation  by  Professor  Macalister  .       175 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

With  Boys  and  Girls. 

Drummond's  capacity  for  fun — Parodic  examination  papers — The 
Onward  and  Upward  Association — Interim  editorship  of  Wee 
Willie  Winkie — Meetings  for  schoolboys — Interest  in  a  boys' 
club        .....,,.       180 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

For  the  Boys'  Brigade. 

His  keen  interest  in  the  Boys'  Brigade — Baxter  s  Second  Innings 
— The  letters  to  "Baxter,"  and  his  reply — "First":  an 
addr«8s  to  Brigade  Boys  .  .  ,  ,  ,       187 

CHAPTER  XXin. 

For  the  Boys'  Brigade — {continuecC). 

Drummond's  advocacy  of  the  Brigade  as  a  field  of  work — Address 
at  Harvard  University — Speech  at  International  Christian 
Conference  at  Chicago — An  opportunity  for  young  men — 
Brigade  statistics  ......       203 


xvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
His  Recreations. 


PAGE 


Sport,   out  of  doors — In-doors — On    hobbies — His    acquaintance 

with  general  literature  .....       218 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Arrest  of  Life. 

Professional  duties  and  evangelistic  work  checked  by  illness — His 
patience  in  suiTering  —  Death  —  Funeral  —  Appreciation  by 
Professor  Marcus  Dods  ......      222 

Appendix — Notes  for  a  Bibliography  ....      229 
Index  .  *  .  .  ....      241 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Henry  Drummond  (1893) Frontispiece 

From  a  Wash  Drawing  by  Scott  Rankin. 

At  Dollis  Hill,  1888 facing  p.      92 

Photo  by  Lombardi. 

Henry  Drummond *'  218 

Photo  by  Lafayette. 


xvu 


INTRODUCTION 


Religious  enthusiasm  has  inspired  many  of  the  finest 
personalities  in  history,  but  the  passion  for  personal 
teaching  of  religion  by  direct  contact  with  men,  through 
the  medium  of  personal  appeal,  has  rarely  taken  pos- 
session of  a  man  so  fastidious  in  taste  and  habit  as 
Henry  Drummond.  The  evangelist,  as  a  rule,  has  been 
a  man  of  force  and  fire  rather  than  of  taste,  culture, 
and  personal  distinction.  The  brilliant  young  Scotch 
student,  who  was  so  deeply  impressed  by  the  broad 
humanity  and  the  spiritual  fervor  of  Mr.  Moody  during 
the  first  memorable  visit  of  the  American  evangelist  to 
Scotland  in  1874,  was  a  scholar  with  a  strong  bent 
toward  science,  and  a  captivating  quality  as  a  teacher. 
He  had  the  qualities  which  have  given  his  country  an 
influence  in  the  world  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  popu- 
lation and  its  size  :  that  deep-giving  integrity  which  is 
bred  into  the  bone,  clearness  and  vigor  of  intellect,  the 
vitality  of  a  temperate  and  active  race,  and  an  instinct 
for  action  and  service  which  made  him  one  of  the  heroic 
workers  of  his  time.  He  was  born  to  be  a  University 
man,  and  the  stamp  of  the  University  was  on  bis  entire 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

expression ;  in  a  pursuit  -wliicli  perhaps  more  than  any 
other  turns  light  into  heat  and  tempts  men  to  exaggera- 
tion of  statement  and  excess  of  emotionalism  he  never 
lost  his  poise,  his  sense  of  proportion,  his  love  of  good 
form.  Unlike  many  religious  propagandists  he  sug- 
gested in  his  own  person  the  beauty  of  holiness.  He 
brought  to  the  work  of  persuading  men  to  become  the 
followers  of  Christ  not  only  transparent  integrity,  but 
the  force  of  a  manhood  which  was  untouched  by 
pietism,  of  a  speech  which  was  free  from  all  suggestion 
of  professional  religiousness,  and  a  personality  of  sin- 
gular attractiveness. 

The  air  of  distinction  was  about  him  from  the  begin- 
ning in  his  person,  his  bearing,  his  dress,  his  public 
speech  and  his  written  style.  Whatever  he  did  was 
done  with  ease  and  grace  ;  and  his  utterance  was  always 
harmonious.  There  was  a  touch  of  the  artist  on  his 
work  ;  he  never  neglected  the  service  of  beauty  so  often 
and  so  painfully  forgotten  or  ignored  by  many  men  of 
religious  spirit  and  occupation.  He  was  a  teacher  of 
religion  and  of  science,  but  he  was  pre-eminently  a  gen- 
tleman in  the  most  exacting  sense  of  the  word;  one 
who  bore  himself  with  constant  and  delicate  perception 
of  the  fact  that  "  no  man  lives  unto  himself,"  but  that 
every  man  is  set  in  a  social  order  to  which  he  owes 
not  only  the  inspiration  of  his  personal  conviction  but 
that  grace  of  good  manners  which  makes  it  easier  for 
men  to  be  and  do  their  best.  Drummond  never  strove 
to  hammer  truth  into  men ;  he  knew  a  better  because  a 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

firmer  method ;  lie  captivated  and  converted  them  by  a 
presentation  of  truth  which  was  not  only  persuasive  to 
the  mind,  but  which  was  made  marvellously  attractive 
by  the  atmosphere  which  enveloped  and  conveyed  it. 

The  fibre  of  his  nature  was  vigorous  ;  it  was  the 
virility  of  his  manhood  which,  combined  with  his  free- 
dom from  religious  professionalism  and  the  fascination 
of  his  personality,  made  him  pre-eminently  a  preacher 
to  young  men.  He  knew  men  and  boys  thoroughly  and 
was  at  home  with  them  ;  there  is  a  noticeable  absence 
of  references  to  women  in  the  biographical  sketches 
which  have  appeared.  His  supreme  interest  was  in 
young  men,  and  he  became  pre-eminently  a  teacher  of 
youth.  Like  all  men  of  contagious  enthusiasm  and 
captivating  vitality,  he  had  high  spirits  and  a  great 
appetite  for  fun.  The  boy  was  immortal  in  him  ;  that 
abiding  presence  of  the  spirit  of  youth  which  is  the 
witness  of  the  creative  mood.  To  the  end  of  his  life 
humor  and  gayety  were  matched  in  him  with  charming 
urbanity  and  unfailing  courtesy. 

He  was  a  fine  example  of  natural  goodness ;  a  beau- 
tiful type  of  normal  religious  unfolding.  He  was  with- 
out cant,  exaggeration,  undue  emphasis  on  one  side  of 
life  to  the  exclusion  of  other  sides,  aifectation  of  speech 
or  self-consciousness.  In  a  very  beautiful  way,  in  an 
age  when  much  confusion  of  standards  prevailed,  he  il- 
lustrated the  free  harmonious  power  of  the  man  who 
grows  in  virtue,  purity,  and  faith  as  he  grows  in  intel- 
lectual vitality  and  in  breadth  of  intellectual  interests. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

His  work  has  wonderful  justness  of  insight  and  feeling. 
It  matters  little  to  how  much  revision  some  of  his  con- 
clusions may  be  subjected;  his  real  power  was  in  his 
personality,  and  that  will  remain  a  stimulating  and  in- 
spiriting memory.  The  emphasis  of  this  sketch  rests 
on  Drummond's  work  with  students,  and  in  the  en- 
deavor to  describe  this  phase  of  his  activity  the  writer 
has  thrown  into  clear  relief  one  of  the  most  winning 
personalities  of  our  time. 

Hamilton  W.  Mabie. 


THE 

PRACTICAL  LIFE  WORK 


OF 


HENRY  DRUMMOND 


CHAPTER   I. 

Birth — Parentage — Boyhood. 

"AS  in  every  phenomenon,"  says  Carlyle,  "  the 
-4-A-  Beginning  remains  always  the  most  notable 
moment;  so,  with  regard  to  any  great  man,  we  rest 
not  till,  for  our  scientific  profit  or  not,  the  whole  circum- 
stances of  his  first  appearance  in  this  Planet,  and  what 
manner  of  Public  Entry  he  made,  are  with  utmost 
completeness  rendered  manifest."  We  may  or  we  may 
not  accept  the  seer's  somewhat  ineffectual  qualification 
of  his  statement,  when  he  says  that,  "  in  a  psychological 
point  of  view,  it  is  perhaps  questionable  whether  from 
birth  and  genealogy,  how  closely  scrutinised  soever, 
much  insight  is  to  be  gained."  But  it  will  probably 
satisfy  the  primary  law  of  biography  just  quoted,  if 
we  glance,  at  the  outset  of  this  sketch,  upon  the  two 
generations  which  preceded  him  who  is  its  subject,  as 
well  as  upon  the  record  of  his  earliest  years. 

Of  William  Drummond,  his  grandfather,  little  more 

need  be  said  than  that,  as  a  nurseryman  at  Coney  Park, 

Bridge  of  Allan,  in  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth 

century,  he   laid   the    foundations  of  the  business  now 

I 


2  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

known  throughout  the  civilised  world  as  "  William 
Drummond  &  Sons,  Seedsmen,  Stirling  and  Dublin." 
He  had  the  large  family  of  eleven  sons  and  four 
daughters,  whom  he  soberly  endeavoured  to  bring  up 
"  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,"  as  the 
Presbyterian  baptismal  ritual  has  it.  The  spiritual 
needs  of  his  neighbours  would  also  appear  to  have 
caused  him  some  concern,  for  he  was  once  put  on  his 
trial  before  the  magistrates  of  Stirling  upon  the 
charge  of  having  established  a  Sunday  school  for  the 
youths  of  a  neighbouring  village,  thereby  interfering 
with  the  prerogatives  of  the  Church.  Of  his  eleven 
sons,  mention  may  be  made  of  two  —  Peter  and 
Henry. 

Peter  Drummond  was  for  years  a  junior  partner  in 
his  father's  business,  but,  twenty  years  before  his  death 
— that  is,  in  or  about  185  7 — his  activities  were  diverted 
into  another  channel.  Distressed  by  the  prevalence 
of  Sunday  desecration,  committed  by  excursionists  to 
Cambuskenneth  Abbey,  and  finding  his  verbal  and 
personal  appeals  of  little  avail,  he  printed  and  distri- 
buted copies  of  a  short  tract  which  he  had  written 
upon  the  subject.  The  effect  of  this  pamphlet  was  so 
marked  that  Mr.  Drummond  persevered  in  his  campaign, 
and  had  ultimately  the  satisfaction  of  securing  the  dis- 
continuance of  race  meetings  held  in  Stirling,  and  of 
Sunday  sailings  of  excursion  boats  to  Cambuskenneth. 
Along  these  lines  he  was  led  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Stirling  Tract  Enterprise  —  nowadays  commonly 
known  as  Drummond's  Tract  Depot — which  has,  since 
its  foundation,  published  hundreds  of  millions  of  copies 
of  tracts  and  evangelical  periodicals. 

Henry  Drummond,  senior,  after  a  short  experience 
in  a  West  of  Scotland  merchant's  establishment,  also 
joined  his  father's  firm,  and  ultimately  succeeded  to  the 


BIRTH— PARENTAGE— BOYHOOD  3 

management  of  the  Stirling  branch  of  the  business. 
Although  he  was  known  as  "  not  the  speaking 
Drummond " — to  differentiate  him  from  his  brother 
Peter,  who  was  active  in  open-air  and  other  evangel- 
istic effort — and  did  not  court  publicity,  he  too  was 
a  zealous  worker  He  was  a  patron  of  nearly  every 
religious  and  philanthropic  agency  in  the  town.  Among 
the  young,  particularly,  he  was  a  great  favourite.  He 
married  Miss  Jane  Blackwood  of  Kilmarnock,  and,  of 
their  family  of  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  the  subject 
of  the  following  sketch  was  second  child  and  second  son. 
Mr.  Drummond  was  of  a  fine  personal  appearance  and 
carriage ;  he  had  a  silver-toned  voice ;  and  he  frequently 
exhibited  a  "  pawky  "  humour.  He  was  wont  to  speak 
of  himself  as  the  "  first  gentleman  in  the  County," 
alluding  to  the  not-too-conspicuous  fact  that  his  was 
the  first  house  passed  by  anyone  crossing  the  town 
boundary  at  that  point.  On  one  occasion,  when  his 
name  appeared  upon  the  programme  of  a  social  gathering 
at  which  the  proceedings  were  so  protracted  that  his 
turn  had  not  arrived  at  half-past  ten  o'clock  at  night, 
in  making  excuse  for  leaving  without  delivering  his 
speech,  he  said  to  the  chairman,  "  I  shall  be  back  in 
time — to-morrow  night."  Yet  another  instance  of  his 
pawkiness  may  be  found  in  the  story  that,  in  sending 
his  subscription  to  a  local  football  club,  he  sealed  his 
half-sovereign  to  the  back  of  a  Scripture  card,  and 
told  the  secretary  that  he  hoped  that  the  Club 
would  derive  as  much  benefit  from  the  card  as  from 
the  coin. 

Henry  Drummond,  junior,  was  born  at  Glen  Elm 
Lodge,  Stirling,  on  17th  August  1851.  As  a  small  child 
he  was  remarkable  for  a  sunny  disposition  and  a  sweet 
temper.  When  questioned  in  later  life  as  to  whether 
he  had  had  any  premonition  in  his  early  boyhood  of  the 


4  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

course  which  his  after  life  was  to  take,  he  said,  "  A 
real  boy  never  thinks  of  such  things.  It  is  his  business 
to  be  a  boy.  I  was  a  real  boy."  Writing,  too,  of  the 
early  days  of  Professor  Marcus  Dods,  he  said,  "  They 
were  spent  just  as  boys  should  spend  them — with  much 
exercise  of  manliness  and  muscle,  and  not  too  excessive 
anxiety  over  Ovid  and  Euclid." 

A  bright,  cheerful  boy,  Henry  was  a  general  favourite, 
and  in  the  cricket-field,  anghug  excursions  to  the  neigh- 
bouring Pow,  and  similar  ploys,  he  secured  scope  for  the 
development  of  his  healthy  nature.  Imagination,  too, 
seems  to  have  found  a  fertile  field  in  his  young  brain, 
for  we  are  told  that  he  was  fond  of  playing  at  back- 
woods, and  camps,  and  caves,  in  the  less  frequented  and 
more  remote  part  of  the  King's  Park,  which  lies  to  the 
south  of  Stirling  Castle.  Years  after,  speaking  as  an 
"  old  boy "  at  the  annual  exhibition  of  Stirling  High 
School,  he  told  the  boys  that  he  retained  a  vivid  recol- 
lection of  Ballantyne's  books — especially  of  The  Young 
Fur  Traders — and  confessed  to  a  "  sneaking  fancy  still 
for  tomahawks  and  scalps."  It  is  interesting  to  note  in 
passing  that  imagination  found  a  similar  outlet  in  the 
boyhood  of  Eobert  Louis  Stevenson,  of  whom  we  are 
told  that  games  of  pirates,  played  in  the  open  among 
the  sand  wreaths  to  the  v/est  of  North  Berwick,  were 
a  constant  source  of  amusement.  The  grey,  historic 
castle,  perched  upon  its  mighty  Eock,  and  the  undulating 
champaign  lying  for  miles  around  it,  all  reminiscent  of 
some  of  Scotland's  bloodiest  battles  and  several  of  her 
gayest  monarchs,  constituted  an  environment  which  must 
also  have  had  its  silent  influence  upon  young  Drummond. 
Looking  back  in  1890,  at  the  opening  of  the  New 
Christian  Institute  at  Stirling,  he  spoke  of  himself  as  a 
son  of  the  Eock,  and  said,  "  A  young  man  has  only  to 
live  in  Glasgow  for  a  few  winters  to  covet  even  a  single 


BIRTH— PARENTAGE— BOYHOOD  5 

week  of  such  a  scene  of  beauty  and  picturesqueness  and 
quietness  as  the  City  of  the  Kock." 

Young  Drummond's  schooldays  were  spent  in  part 
at  the  High  School,  Stirling,  and  in  part  at  Morrison's 
Academy,  Crieff.  He  early  manifested  that  desultori- 
ness  and  independence  in  study  which  in  him,  as  in 
many  others,  were  precursors  of  a  life-work  in  an 
unconventional  channel.  It  was  his  fortune  to  be  a 
schoolmate  of  John  Watson — now  so  widely  known  by 
his  pseudonym  "  Ian  Maclaren  "  —  and  of  "  Geordie 
Hoo,"  or,  at  least,  of  the  original  of  that  pathetic  pen- 
portrait  in  The  Bonnie  Brier  Bush.  James  Stalker, 
too,  crossed  his  path  in  these  schooldays,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  a  friendship  which  was  only  to  terminate 
with  Drummond's  life. 

About  the  tender  age  of  nine  Drummond  had  his 
first  religious  experience.  After  a  meeting  for  children, 
held  in  his  uncle  Peter's  drawing-room,  he  remained  for 
personal  conversation.  The  chronicler  of  this  incident 
describes  him  as  a  little  curly  -  haired  boy,  and  says, 
"  He  was  weeping  to  think  that  he  had  never  loved  that 
dear  Saviour  who  took  the  punishment  that  he  deserved. 
We  prayed  together,  and  he  gave  his  heart  to  Jesus." 
Years  after,  he  told  the  students  of  Amherst  College  in 
America  "  that  it  was  at  that  meeting  in  his  uncle's 
home  that  he  began  to  love  the  Saviour,  and  became  a 
happy  Christian." 

We  get  a  very  interesting  glimpse  of  him  at  the  age 
of  twelve  or  fourteen,  in  the  account  of  a  meeting  held 
in  Stirling  by  the  Kev.  James  Eobertson  of  Edinburgh, 
the  famous  preacher  to  the  young.  The  crowd  in  the 
Erskine  Church  was  so  great  that  children  were  sitting, 
not  only  on  the  pulpit  stairs,  but  even  in  the  pulpit 
itself.  When  Eobertson  gave  out  the  passage  of  Scripture 
to  be  read,  he  turned  to  Henry  Drummond,  who  had 


6  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

secured  a  seat  in  the  pulpit,  and  putting  his  hand  on 
his  head,  said,  "  Now,  my  lad,  you'll  read  the  chapter." 
Henry  at  once  complied,  reading  in  a  clear  and  distinct 
tone  of  voice. 

Another  fact  that  points  to  a  definite  religious  experi- 
ence is  that,  about  the  age  of  twelve,  he  made  a  con- 
scientious study  of  Bonar's  God's  Way  of  Peace.  Speaking 
of  tliis  during  his  last  illness,  he  expressed  the  fear  that 
the  book  had  hurt  him,  and  told  of  cases  in  which  a 
book  of  similar  good  purpose  had  only  hindered  the 
access  of  a  soul  to  the  Saviour.  In  one  of  Moody's 
after-meetings  in  London  he  had  said  to  a  girl,  "  You 
must  give  up  reading  James's  Anxious  Inquirer"  She 
wondered  how  he  had  guessed  she  was  reading  it. 
But,  said  he,  "  a  fortnight  of  the  Testament  put 
her  right."  Another  inquirer  had  said  to  him,  too, 
"  It's  not  so  simple  as  that  in  James's  Anxious 
Inquirer." 

Drummond  left  school  at  the  close  of  the  summer 
term  in  1866,  and  upon  the  eve  of  his  fifteenth  birth- 
day. He  was  beginning  to  discover  a  taste  for  scientific 
information.  "  I  suppose,"  he  afterwards  said,  "  my 
scientific  bent  was  apparent  in  a  desire  to  investigate 
things,  to  examine  the  objects  about  me — the  rocks 
of  the  hills  and  the  flowers  of  the  field.  My  first 
scientific  loves  were  geology  and  botany.  It  seemed 
to  come  naturally  to  me  to  knock  about  with  a 
hammer." 

Then  came  the  problem  of  a  choice  of  occupation. 
He  already  believed  that  he  had  received  a  "  call "  to 
the  direct  service  of  God.  He  did  not  know  how  it  was 
to  be  answered,  but  felt  that  it  could  not  be  carried  out 
in  the  sphere  of  his  father's  business ;  although  he 
entered  that  for  a  time,  and  could  have  found  in  it  the 
work  of  a  prosperous  life.      Curiously  enough,  he   did 


BIRTH— PARENTAGE— BOYHOOD  7 

not  feel  called  to  the  ministry,  and  it  was  only  to 
please  his  father  that  he  proceeded  in  October  1866 
to  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  four  years  later 
to  the  Theological  College  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland. 


CHAPTER  11. 

Student  Life. 

THE  course  of  studies  required  of  candidates  for  the 
office  of  ministry  in  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
was  spread  over  a  period  of  eight  years.  Four  of  these  were 
spent  in  taking  the  usual  curriculum  in  the  Faculty  of 
Arts  at  a  Scottish  University — Latin,  Greek,  Mathematics, 
Logic,  Moral  Philosophy,  Natural  Philosophy,  and  English 
Literature.  The  remaining  four  were  occupied  at  one  of 
the  Theological  Halls  of  the  Church,  in  study  of  such 
special  subjects  as  Hebrew,  Apologetics,  Natural  Science, 
Evangelistic  Theology,  Old  and  New  Testament  Exegesis, 
Systematic  Theology,  and  Church  History. 

Henry  Drummond  went  to  Edinburgh  University.  In 
these  days  Sellar  was  Professor  of  Latin,  or  "  Humanity," 
as  it  is  called  in  Scotland ;  Blackie  still  discoursed  upon 
Greek,  and  on  anything  else  that  came  into  his  head ; 
Chrystal  inspired  a  profound  respect  for  the  intellectu- 
alities of  Mathematics ;  Campbell  Eraser  was  in  the 
chair  of  Logic ;  Tait,  in  that  of  Natural  Science,  carried 
the  palm  as  the  finest  lecturer  in  the  University ;  Calder- 
wood  enunciated  the  elements  of  Moral  Philosophy  with 
metallic  conscientiousness  ;  and  rugged  Masson  tugged 
at  the  gas-bracket,  and  spilt  his  enthusiasm  for  English 
and  Scots  literature  upon  such  as  had  ears  to  hear  and 
a  heart  to  understand.  But,  in  tracing  the  moulding 
forces  of  those  University  days,  we  have  to  seek  else- 

8 


STUDENT  LIFE  9 

where  than  in  the  records  of  class  work  and  degree 
examinations.  Young  Drummond's  discursive  genius 
rebelled  against  the  traditional  and  the  commonplace : 
and  yet  he  was  not  idle.  The  atmosphere  of  a  Scottish 
University  is  always  tonic  to  the  intellectual  mind, 
and  dormant  tastes  are  bound  to  be  stimulated  and 
developed. 

Of  Drummond's  doings  during  his  first  term  at  the 
University  (1866-67)  we  find  little  record.  Probably 
he  was  enjoying,  after  his  own  fashion,  Professor  Masson's 
class  of  English  Literature,  which  his  natural  bias  had 
led  him  to  attend  in  that  year,  although  the  class  was 
one  usually  taken  out  in  the  last  year  of  the  Arts 
curriculum.  It  may  be,  too,  that  the  lad  of  fifteen  re- 
quired a  year  in  which  to  become  assured  of  his  autonomy 
as  a  full-blown  University  "  man." 

But  in  his  second  session,  on  22nd  November  1867, 
he  was  elected  to  the  membership  of  "  The  Philomathic," 
an  undergraduate,  literary,  and  debating  society,  which 
met  and  still  meets,  weekly,  during  the  winter  session,  in 
the  Hall  of  the  Associated  Societies  of  the  University. 
Here  Drummond  found,  as  many  before  and  many  since 
have  found,  at  once  an  intellectual  stimulus  and  an 
opportunity  for  the  expression  of  newly-awakened  interest 
in  man  and  in  letters.  Throughout  his  connection  with 
the  Society  Drummond  appears  to  have  rarely  missed 
attendance  at  its  meetings. 

On  10th  January  1868,  within  two  months  of  his 
election,  he  read  an  essay  on  "Novels  and  Novel-Eeading," 
of  which  it  is  minuted  that  it  was  "  highly  commended, 
and  favourably  criticised  by  those  that  spoke."  It  has 
been  said  that  Drummond  disliked  classics.  This  may 
be  true,  but  it  is  curious  that  twice  he  led  for  the 
affirmative  in  debates  upon  the  question  of  their  utility ; 
and  it  may  be  noted  in  passing  that,  in  taking  Senior 


lo  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Humanity  in  his  first  year,  he  had  given  evidence  of 
some  aptitude.  Certain  it  is  that,  on  15th  March  1868, 
and  again  on  18th  December  in  the  same  year,  upon 
the  problem  "  Ought  Classics  to  be  generally  studied  ? " 
he  led  for  the  affirmative,  and  on  both  occasions  secured 
a  substantial  majority  in  support. 

In  his  second  year  of  membership  Drummond  was 
promoted  to  the  committee,  and  his  fertile  genius  for 
organisation  found  occasion  for  proposing  frequent 
motions,  with  the  object  of  improvement  in  the  conduct 
of  the  Society's  business.  Some  of  these  alterations 
were  effected,  others  were  not.  One  of  them,  instituting 
a  short  interval  between  the  reading  of  an  essay,  or  the 
opening  speeches  of  a  debate,  and  the  subsequent  dis- 
cussion, is  observed  to  this  day  with  great  acceptance. 
On  12th  March  1869,  Drummond  led  for  the  affirmative, 
unsuccessfully,  upon  the  question,  "  Ought  the  British 
Soldiery  to  be  employed  in  Agriculture  or  Similar 
Pursuits  in  Times  of  Peace  ? "  and  on  2nd  April  1869  it 
was  declared  that  he  was  entitled  to  honorary  member- 
ship, to  which  he  was  duly  elected. 

In  the  third  and  last  year  of  his  active  interest  in  the 
Philomathic  Society,  Drummond  was  appointed  to  the 
office  of  Vice-President.  In  January  1870  he  led  for 
the  affirmative  in  the  debate  "  Was  the  Deluge  Partial  ? " 
and  on  the  1st  of  April  in  that  year  he  delivered  his 
valedictory  address. 

Early  in  his  University  days,  books  began  to  assert  a 
new  authority  over  young  Drummond ;  to  call  for  a 
broader  outlook  upon  life,  and  to  awaken  his  imagination 
to  an  appreciation  of  the  sublime  and  the  beautiful.  Years 
after,  in  an  autobiographical  moment,  when  addressing 
the  members  of  Melbourne  University  Union,  he  spoke 
of  his  early  friendship  with  books,  and  fortunately  a 
record  of  his  words  has  been  preserved : — 


STUDENT  LIFE  ii 

"  I  wish  to  talk  to  the  duffers,  because,  while  I  was 
at  College,  I  was  a  duffer  myself,  and  I  therefore 
sympathise  with  the  duffers. 

"  In  a  certain  library  I  know  of  in  Scotland,  the 
books  are  divided  into  two  great  classes,  which  are  in 
cases  on  opposite  sides  of  the  room.  Surmounting  the 
shelves  in  which  one  class  is  ranged  there  is  a  stuffed 
owl,  while  upon  the  other  there  is  a  bird  known  in 
Scotland  as  the  '  dipper.'  These  birds  are  symbolical  of 
the  two  kinds  of  books.  It  is  about  the  second  class, 
the  '  dipper '  books,  the  books  that  may  be  dipped  into, 
that  I  am  going  to  speak. 

"  The  '  owl '  class  is  uninviting  in  appearance,  and 
requires  the  reader  to  burn  the  '  midnight  oil.'  The 
main  value  of  these  books  is  not  what  one  gets  out  of 
them,  but  the  mental  discipline  which  is  got  from  them ; 
and  no  man  will  ever  come  to  much  unless  he  occasion- 
ally goes  laboriously  and  conscientiously  through  the 
*  owl '  books.  In  general  literature,  an  example  of  the 
'owl'  books  would  be  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall;  in 
poetry,  The  Eing  and  the  Booh  Each  of  these  leaves 
behind  a  sense  of  power  and  grasp  possessed  by  the 
writer.  And  so  with  all  these  great  books.  In 
philosophy,  one  might  class  Butler's  Analogy  amongst 
them ;  in  theology,  such  a  book  as  Dorner  on  The  Person 
of  Christ,  or  Miiller  on  The  Doctrine  of  Sin.  They  all 
leave  upon  the  reader  an  impression  of  the  size  and 
power  of  the  human  mind.  I  do  not  think  it  is 
necessary  to  know  many  of  these,  but  every  duffer 
ought  to  read  one  or  two  of  them  during  his  College 
course.  A  man  is  partly  made  by  his  friends,  partly  by 
his  College  books ;  and  many  a  man  is  entirely  shut  up 
to  the  first ;  many  a  man  to  the  second.  .  .  . 

"  I  think  every  student  should  form  a  library  of  his 
own.     It    does    not    matter    how    small.     Puring    my 


12  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

College  course  I  gathered  such  a  library.  It  occupied 
the  mantelshelf,  yet  I  owe  more  to  these  books  than  to 
all  the  professors.  I  would  especially  urge  this  upon 
medical  students.  Medical  men  are  probably  the  most 
illiberal  class  in  the  world.  They  know  all  about  bones, 
but  not  one  in  a  hundred  knows  about  the  literature  of 
his  time. 

"  I  remember  the  very  first  book  which  I  ever  bought, 
which  I  shall  call  No.  1.  It  was  a  volume  of  Euskin — 
only  a  book  of  selections — which  cost  four  shillings  and 
sixpence.  When  I  look  back  upon  it  now,  I  can  name 
with  perfect  clearness  what  I  got  out  of  that  book. 
Euskin  taught  me  to  see.  Men  are  born  blind,  as  blind 
as  bats  or  kittens,  and  many  men  go  through  their  whole 
career  without  ever  opening  their  eyes.  I  should  have 
done  so  too,  if  I  had  not  encountered  Euskin.  It  only 
requires  the  idea  to  be  put  into  a  man's  mind.  .  .  . 

"Euskin  will  help  a  man  to  the  use  of  his  eyes. 
Anybody  can  be  put  up  to  this  in  a  few  minutes.  Go 
out  into  the  country  on  Saturday,  and  stop  at  the  first 
ploughed  field.  At  first  you  will  see  nothing  but  an 
ugly  ploughed  mass.  When  you  look  again,  it  is  a  rich 
amber  colour,  with  probably  two  feet  of  coloured  air 
moving  over  it.  The  ploughed  field  is  really  a  glowing 
mass  of  beautiful  colour.  When  I  was  a  little  boy,  I 
wondered  why  God  made  the  world  so  dingy.  I  saw  in 
Euskin  that  the  colours  as  they  are  in  Nature  are  most 
perfectly  beautiful,  and  that  by  no  possibility  can  they 
be  changed  to  advantage. 

"  Then  look  at  the  boulders,  with  their  forests  of  lichen 
and  mosses.  Try  to  think  what  like  naked  rock  is. 
There  are  a  few  places  on  the  earth's  surface  where  the 
earth's  bones  stick  out,  and  there  is  nothing  more 
appalling  in  the  world.  Euskin  calls  mosses  and 
lichens  '  God's  first  mercy  to  the  world.'     Do  not  look 


STUDENT  LIFE  13 

at  the  general  effect,  but  look  at  the  individual.  Look 
how  exquisitely  coloured  they  are ;  look  at  the  imitation 
of  crystallisation ;  look  at  the  finish  upon  their  most 
minute  parts ;  and  look  at  the  stability  of  these  things. 
They  are  delicate  as  a  little  cigar-ash ;  the  sun  shines 
and  scorches  them ;  the  wind  blows  and  moves  them  ; 
the  frost  bites  and  chills  them ;  the  rain  falls  on  them, 
but  never  washes  them  away. 

"  I  should  have  gone  through  the  world  and  never 
seen  them  at  all  had  Euskin  never  taught  me  to  look. 
He  taught  me  to  look  at  the  trees  when  the  leaves  were 
ofif,  and  to  see  as  much  in  them  as  when  the  leaves  were 
on.  One  of  the  advantages  this  gives  a  man  is  the 
possession  of  a  great  many  adjectives,  and  it  is  a  man's 
adjectives,  to  a  large  extent,  that  bear  witness  to  his 
intellectual  power.  A  lot  of  men  go  to  hear  a  sermon 
or  a  lecture.  Some  say,  '  It  was  very  nice,'  but  the 
thoughtful  man  will  say,  *  It  was  a  discerning  sermon,' 
or  'a  well-thought-out  sermon,'  or  'a  weak  sermon.' 
Now,  there  is  nothing  that  will  supply  a  man  with 
adjectives  so  much  as  Nature.  What  should  we  know 
of  the  word  '  awful,'  if  it  were  not  for  thunder  ?  Euskin 
says,  'No  one  knows  what  tenderness  is  until  he  has 
seen  a  sunrise.'  The  best  idea  that  one  can  get  of 
tenderness  is  the  delicate  light  of  an  autumn  sunrise. 
Let  me  simply  say  that  if  anyone  has  not  discovered 
the  world  in  which  he  lives,  he  ought  to  get  some  book 
that  will  help  him  to  do  this. 

"  The  second  book  I  bought  was  Emerson,  and  I  used 
always  to  take  credit  to  myself  that  I  had  discovered 
Emerson.  My  fellow-students  would  not  read  him. 
They  always  read  Carlyle.  I  could  not  read  Carlyle 
then.  If  I  did  read  Carlyle,  I  felt  I  had  been  whipped ; 
while,  after  I  read  Emerson,  I  felt  that  I  had  been 
stroked  down. 


14  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

"  I  think  a  man  should  read  the  hooks  that  help  him. 
It  does  not  matter  what  reputation  they  have  got.  I 
think  a  man  should  discard  the  books  that  bore  him. 
I  think  what  Emerson  does  for  you  is  to  teach  you  to 
see  vnth  the  mind.  Emerson  never  proves  anything ;  he 
never  works  out  logic.  He  just  looks  at  truth,  and  sees 
what  he  sees,  and  you  see  that  what  he  sees  is  right. 
Emerson  was  one  of  the  purest  and  most  unworldly  men 
that  ever  lived.  He  lived  the  ripe  scholar  all  the  time. 
He  never  came  down  and  mingled  with  the  crowd,  and 
took  off  his  gown.  There  is  a  scholarly  purity  and 
unworldliness  about  his  work.  He  teaches,  for  instance, 
the  great  truth  that  a  man  ought  to  rely  upon  himself ; 
that  God  has  given  him  a  certain  number  of  talents,  and 
that  is  his  equipment  to  go  through  life  on.  He  has  to 
stand  on  his  own  instincts,  and  to  be  perfectly  content 
to  be  what  God  has  made  him  to  be,  and  not  anxious 
to  be  anybody  else;  and  this  makes  a  man  perfectly 
satisfied  to  be  even  a  '  duffer.' 

"  The  next  set  of  books  on  my  library  shelf  were  one 
or  two  novels  of  George  Eliot's,  which  were  much  in 
vogue  during  my  College  course.  I  owe  a  great  deal  to 
George  Eliot.  She  ojycned  my  eyes  to  the  meaning  of  life. 
There  is  no  better  reading  in  the  world  than  a  good 
novel.  In  reading  a  good  novel,  you  are  living  with 
good  and  interesting  people,  who  do  you  good.  I  was 
kept  going  a  whole  winter  because  I  fell  in  love  with 
one  of  George  Eliot's  young  ladies.  Well,  I  should  say 
to  a  student  that  second  or  third  on  his  list  of  books 
should  be  a  few  really  first-rate  novels.  George  Eliot 
had  a  great  message  to  the  world,  and  she  deliberately 
chose  the  novel  form  as  the  form  in  which  she  could 
best  teach  the  world. 

"  I  used  to  like  Besant  and  Eice  in  those  days ;  since 
then,  of  course,  I  have  tried  to  read  more  carefully. 


STUDENT  LIFE  15 

"  I  suppose  the  greatest  novelist  at  the  present  time 
is  George  Meredith.  I  suppose  George  Meredith  belongs 
to  the  same  class  of  novelists  as  Victor  Hugo,  where  you 
get  George  Meredith  and  more  besides.  Les  MiseraUes 
is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  of  novels. 

"  Next  to  my  novels,  I  had  one  or  two  books  of 
humour.  My  favourite,  then  and  now,  is  Mark  Twain. 
I  do  not  know  a  book  in  our  language  which  can  touch 
the  American  humour  in  its  dash  and  piquancy.  .  .  . 
I  think  the  very  best  book  of  humour  that  has  ever  been 
given  to  the  world  is  Mark  Twain's  Selections  of  American 
Humour.  That  book  contains  the  '  Blue  Jay.'  I  wish 
I  had  it  here  to  read  to  you.  .  .  . 

"  I  must  conclude  by  referring  to  one  or  two  books 
which  satisfied  another  part  of  my  nature.  I  suppose  I 
am  not  out  of  court  in  referring  to  these  books  which 
satisfied  the  higher  part  of  my  being.  I  think  a  man 
should  be  developed  in  his  whole  manhood.  Well,  I 
picked  up  a  book  from  a  bookstall,  and  after  reading  a 
page  of  it,  carried  it  home — a  volume  of  Dr.  Channing's. 
Channing  taught  me  to  believe  in  a  God.  I  had  always 
been  brought  up  to  know  that  there  was  a  God.  But  I 
did  not  like  the  idea.  I  had  much  rather  there  had 
been  no  God.  But  when  I  read  Channing's  book,  I  saw 
the  character  of  the  Deity  put  in  such  a  way  that  I 
was  glad  there  was  a  God. 

"  To  the  next  book  on  my  list  I  owed  the  impression 
that  God  was  a  man.  Of  course  He  was  more  than  a 
man,  but  He  was  a  man.  I  got  that  from  one  of  F.  W. 
Ptobertson's  books  of  sermons.  It  was  a  new  revelation 
to  me  when  I  knew  that  Christ  had  been  a  man.  I 
went  to  Eobertson  of  Brighton's  '  Life,'  and  I  knew  what 
freedom  meant.  Eobertson  was  one  of  the  noblest  and 
truest  spirits  that  ever  lived.  He  did  not  care  what  he 
said,  so  long  as  he  spoke  the  truth  ;  and  my  first  glimpse 


i6  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

of    liberty  in  the  intellectual  life  I  got    from   reading 
Eobertson  of  Brighton. 

"  I  will  just  say  that  I  remember  that  one  day,  when 
my  College  course  was  just  finished,  I  looked  over  the 
names  of  the  authors  in  my  library,  and  I  was  thunder- 
struck to  discover  that  almost  every  one  of  them  was  a 
heretic.  /  had  not  sought  the  hooks  out ;  they  had  found 
me.  1  do  not  think  a  man  need  be  afraid  of  what  are 
called  dangerous  books.  I  have  learned  far  more  from 
authors  who  did  not  altogether  hold  the  opinions  I  held 
than  from  those  who  coincided  with  me.  I  do  not  say 
that  one  does  not  owe  very  much  to  one's  fellow- 
believers  ;  but  for  the  real  nutriment  of  my  College  life 
I  must  express  my  obligations  to  such  men,  and  that  has 
taught  me  toleration.  I  would  not  ask  you  to  read  any 
of  these  books.  I  was  only  a  second-rate  student,  and  I 
did  not  presume  to  tackle  first-rate  books." 

Before  he  left  the  University,  Drummond  first  smelled 
printer's  ink  over  two  articles  which  he  contributed  to 
the  Stirling  Observer.  The  papers,  which  were  indicative 
of  the  recrudescence  of  his  taste  for  the  study  of  Nature, 
were  respectively  devoted  to  a  sketch  of  Alva  Glen  (its 
history,  geology,  and  natural  history),  and  a  topographical 
description  of  Gilmore's  Linn,  Stirlingshire. 

The  bright,  joyous  nature  of  the  lad  fascinated  his 
fellow-students  and  found  him  many  friends.  With 
them  he  indulged  in  many  pranks  and  even  practical 
jokes,  and  one  of  them  alleges  that,  were  the  door-bells 
of  the  West  End  of  Edinburgh  able  to  speak,  they  might 
tell  some  queer  tales. 

"  No  power,"  says  his  fellow-student  Dr.  John  Watson, 
"could  drag  him  past  a  Punch-and-Judy  show — the 
ancient,  perennial,  ever-delightful  theatre  of  the  people — 
in  which,  each    time    of    attendance,  he    detected  new 


STUDENT  LIFE  17 

points  of  interest.  He  would,  in  early  days,  if  you 
please,  gaze  steadfastly  into  a  window,  in  the  High 
Street  of  Edinburgh,  till  a  little  crowd  of  men,  women, 
children,  and  workmen,  loafers,  soldiers,  had  collected, 
and  join  with  much  zest  in  the  excited  speculations 
regarding  the  man — unanimously  and  suddenly  imagined 
to  have  been  carried  in  helpless — how  he  met  with  his 
accident,  where  he  was  hurt,  and  whether  he  would 
recover,  listening  eagerly  to  the  explanation  of  the 
gathering  given  by  some  officious  person  to  the  police- 
man, and  joining  heartily  in  the  reproaches  levelled  at 
some  unknown  deceiver."  Another  fellow  -  student 
testifies  that  the  tall  stripling,  with  his  finely  -  cut 
features  and  athletic  figure,  was  persond  grata  in  the 
social  life  of  his  College  friends.  "  His  breezy  sunniness, 
the  kindliness  of  his  fun  and  humour,  the  sparkle  of 
his  quiet  remarks,  and  his  never-failing  courtesy  and 
evenness  of  temper,  made  him  a  favourite  in  every 
company." 

Drummond  possessed  undoubted  mesmeric  powers. 
It  is  credibly  affirmed  that  they  enabled  him  to  exact 
blind  obedience  from  those  over  whom  he  obtained 
influence ;  and  although  in  later  years,  for  conscientious 
reasons,  he  discontinued  their  use,  they  contributed  to 
the  entertainment  of  himself  and  his  friends  in  his 
student-days.  One  or  two  instances  may  be  quoted. 
On  one  occasion  he  hypnotised  a  boy,  and  gave  him  a 
poker  for  a  gun.  "  Now,"  said  Drummond,  "  I'm  a 
pheasant ;  shoot  me."  The  lad  took  aim,  and  Drummond 
fell,  to  keep  up  the  illusion.  But  the  hypnotiser  made 
a  narrow  escape ;  perceiving  his  "  bird "  move,  the 
magnetised  sportsman  raised  the  poker  to  hit  it  on 
the  head,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  done  so,  had 
Drummond  not  de-hypnotised  his  subject  in  a  hurry. 
He    obtained    considerable   mesmeric    influence    over    a 


i8  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

fellow-studeut,  whom  we  shall  call  Smith.  One  day  he 
came  upon  Smith  refreshing  himself  at  the  drinking- 
fountain  in  the  University  quadrangle,  and  exclaimed, 
"  I  say.  Smith,  you  are  quite  tipsy."  Smith  went  off 
reeling,  as  if  he  had  actually  been  intoxicated.  Drum- 
mond  was  once  asked  if  he  might  not  use  his  mesmeric 
influence  to  help  people  to  overcome  evil  habits.  He 
did  not  give  a  direct  answer,  but  told  his  interlocutor 
an  anecdote.  In  the  course  of  his  visit  at  a  house 
in  Ireland,  a  member  of  the  family  was  blamed  for 
constantly  omitting  to  shut  the  gates  through  which  he 
passed  in  driving  his  sister  to  school  every  morning. 
Drummond  laid  an  injunction  upon  the  lad,  and 
enforced  it  by  mesmerism.  The  result  was  that  the 
culprit  never  after  failed  to  shut  the  gates,  and  indeed 
developed  such  a  craze  for  shutting  gates  at  all  times 
and  places  that  his  parents  had  to  ask  Drummond  to 
loose  him  from  the  spell.  A  letter  from  him  had  the 
required  effect. 

Having  completed  his  University  curriculum  in  Arts 
in  the  session  1869—70,  Drummond,  along  with  John 
Watson,  was  examined  by  the  Presbytery  of  Stirling,  on 
Tuesday,  4th  October  1870,  as  to  his  fitness  for 
proceeding  to  the  Theological  Hall.  This  ordeal  duly 
passed,  he  entered  the  New  College,  Edinburgh. 

Among  the  students  of  his  year  were  his  former 
schoolfellow,  John  Watson,  now  Dr.  John  Watson  of 
Liverpool,  and  James  Stalker,  now  Dr.  James  Stalker  of 
St.  Matthew's  Free  Church,  Glasgow.  From  the  notices 
of  Drummond  contributed  to  the  contemporary  press 
after  his  death  by  those  early  intimates  of  his,  and  from 
other  sources,  there  is  little  difficulty  in  discovering  that 
his  student  career  at  the  New  College  was  quite  as 
unconventional  as  it  had  been  at  the  University. 

Both  friends  above  mentioned  agree  in    saying  that 


STUDENT  LIFE  19 

Drummond  was  not  in  any  way  conspicuously  attentive 
to  class  work  or  class  examinations.  Another  fellow- 
student  tells  how,  "  in  Professor  Duff's  class  of  Evan- 
gelistic Theology,  he  used  to  occupy  himself  with  some 
modern  novel,  while  the  old  man  was  pouring  out  his 
soul  over  the  heathen." 

"  Of  what  importance  was  it,"  says  Dr.  John  Watson, 
"  that  he  came  in  this  year  and  went  out  that  year  at 
the  Theological  College  ?  While  I  write  I  see  him 
standing  in  that  sombre  quadrangle,  laden  with  Hodge's 
Systematic  Theology,  in  three  volumes,  exclusive  of  the 
Index  (which  had  been  bestowed  upon  each  of  us  by 
some  philanthropic  layman),  and  rippling  with  gaiety 
at  the  situation — a  bit  of  joyful  light  in  the  greyness. 
Very  likely  he  traded  his  Hodge — a  book  which  kept  the 
rest  of  us  in  the  paths  of  peace — for  a  library  edition  of 
Wendell  Holmes,  or  a  complete  set  of  Bushnell.  These 
were  the  days  when  Eobert  Louis  Stevenson  used  to 
drop  in  to  the  class  of  English  Literature  at  the 
L^niversity  on  a  wet  afternoon,  and,  although  a  more 
regular  student,  Drummond,  in  his  detachment  and  his 
genius,  was  our  Stevenson  of  Theology." 

But  while  his  fellow-students  were  working  at  their 
Theology,  Drummond  was  pursuing  a  concurrent  course 
of  studies  at  the  University,  this  time  in  obedience  to 
his  scientific  bent.  When  the  chair  of  Geology  was 
founded  in  1871,  he  was  the  first  enrolled  student  of 
its  first  Professor.  Here  he  succeeded  in  carrying  off 
the  medal,  and  received  the  honour  of  offer  of  the 
assistantship  to  Professor  Geikie — now  Sir  Archibald 
Geikie  of  the  Eoyal  Geological  Survey.  He  also  studied 
Botany  under  Professor  Balfour,  and  in  the  class  of 
Natural  History  was  second  only  to  Professor  Wyville 
Thomson's  medallist.  There  is  little  wonder  therefore 
that,  as  Dr.  Stalker  tells  us,  while  he  did  not  distinguish 


20  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

himself  at  other  classes  in  the  New  College,  he  drove 
home  with  a  cabful  of  prizes  from  the  class  of  Natural 
Science.  Several  of  the  University  Science  classes  had 
been  taken  upon  the  advice  of  Professor  Geikie,  with  a 
view  to  Drummoud's  qualifying  for  the  degree  of  Doctor 
in  Science ;  but,  as  we  shall  see,  an  interruption  shortly 
occurred  which  practically  frustrated  this  scheme. 

We  must  not  allow  ourselves  to  suppose,  however, 
that  Drummond  did  not  take  an  intelligent,  if  super- 
ficial, interest  in  the  theological  studies  proper  to  his 
preparation  for  the  ministry  of  the  Church.  His  visit 
to  Tubingen  and  his  membership  of  the  New  College 
Theological  Society  are  proofs  to  the  contrary. 

In  conformity  with  the  practice  of  many  of  the  best 
students  in  Scottish  Theology,  Drummond  joined  a  party 
of  New  College  men  in  spending  a  summer  semeste?"  at 
a  German  University.  That  of  Tiibingen  was  chosen 
by  Drummond  and  two  friends.  The  Kev.  D.  M.  Eoss, 
now  of  Westbourne  Free  Church,  Glasgow,  was  one  of 
the  party,  and  he  has  told  us  that  his  fellow-student's 
interest  in  theological  and  speculative  questions  was  of 
the  most  conventional  kind ;  but,  looking  back  in  later 
life  upon  this  episode,  Drummond  seems  to  have  taken 
a  serious  view  of  these  Continental  studies.  "  I  studied," 
he  said,  "  at  a  German  University.  Naturally  enough, 
everyone  now  is  influenced  by  German  thought  of  the 
best  kind.  We  can't  escape  it,  and  we  would  not  wish 
to,  if  it  is  surrounded  by  proper  safeguards — the  safe- 
guards of  time  and  further  work  and  research.  .  .  .  We 
are  gratefully  looking  for  light  from  any  quarter."  We 
know  for  certain  that  on  the  return  of  this  German 
reading  party,  he  joined  several  Divinity  and  lay  students 
in  an  agreement  to  read  Dorner  in  the  original,  at  a 
weekly  gathering  in  the  rooms  of  one  or  other  of  them. 

As  Mr.  Koss  also  tells  us,  Drummond  was  a  universal 


STUDENT  LIFE  21 

favourite  with  the  German  Burschen.  "  He  threw  himself 
with  his  whole  heart  into  the  social  life  of  the  Burschen, 
and  was  eagerly  sought  after  by  the  German  students 
for  Kndpes  (their  weekly  reunions),  for  evening  walks 
to  the  picturesque  Wirthschaften  (restaurants)  in  the  sur- 
rounding villages,  and  for  holiday  excursions  to  Lichten- 
stein,  Hohenzollern,  and  the  Schwartzwald.  There  were 
some  dozen  Scottish  students  in  Tubingen  that  summer, 
and  we  all  scored  in  the  kindness  accorded  to  us  by  the 
warm-hearted  Teutons  from  our  association  with  Hcrr 
Drummond.  Not  that  Drummond  impressed  the  German 
Thcologs  with  his  intellectual  power :  he  had  a  greater 
reputation  as  a  consummate  chess-player  than  as  an 
expert  in  the  New  Testament  criticism,  for  which  Strauss, 
Baur,  and  Zeller  had  made  Tubingen  famous.  It  was  his 
radiant  personality  that  had  attracted  the  Germans,  his 
perennial  interestingness,  the  fascination  of  his  manner, 
the  charm  of  his  character." 

For  many  years  the  students  of  the  New  College 
have  been  able  to  air  their  most  daring  speculations 
and  discuss  their  difficulties,  with  perfect  freedom  and 
without  fear  of  professors  or  presbyteries,  in  "  The 
Theological,"  a  debating  society,  membership  of  which  is 
open  to  all  the  students  in  the  College.  Here  Drum- 
mond found  the  counterpart  to  that  played  in  his  Arts 
curriculum  by  the  "  Philomathic."  But,  although  he 
was  usually  present  on  Friday  nights,  the  other  members 
had,  for  a  while,  some  difficulty  in  predicting  whether  he 
would  ultimately  become  "  gentleman,  litterateur,  lecturer, 
preacher,  or  traveller."  No  one  thought  of  comparing 
him  with  Stalker,  or  Elmslie,  or  Patrick. 

It  was  at  the  Theological  Society,  however,  one 
evening  in  November  1873,  after  his  return  from 
Tiibingen,  that  Drummond  gave  "  the  first  unmistakable 
sample  of  his  quality,"  in  an  essay  entitled  "  Spiritual 


22  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Diagnosis :  an  Argument  for  placing  the  Study  of  the 
Soul  upon  a  Scientific  Basis."     "  In  a  single  hour,"  says  Dr. 
Stalker,  "  this  performance  inspired  his  contemporaries 
with  an  entirely  new  conception  of  his  possibilities ;  and 
it  touched  so  high  a  mark  that  I  was  never  afterwards 
surprised  at  anything  which  he  achieved."     The  essay 
sets  out  with  the   proposition   that  "the  study  of  the 
soul  in  health  and   disease   ought   to   be   as  much   an 
object  of  scientific  study  and  training  as  the  health  and 
diseases  of  the  body."     Postulating  that  onen,  not  masses, 
have  done  all  that  is  great  in  history,  in  science,  and  in 
religion,  Drummond  pleads  that  Christian  workers  should 
be  taught  how  to  fascinate  the  unit  by  their  glance,  by 
their  conversational  oratory,  by  their  mysterious  sym- 
pathy.     "  To    draw    souls    one    by   one,  to   buttonhole 
them  and  steal  from  them  the  secret  of  their  lives,  to 
talk  them   clean   out  of   themselves,  to   read  them  off 
like  a  page  of  print,  to  pervade  them  with  your  spiritual 
essence  and  make  them  transparent,  this  is  the  spiritual 
science  which  is  so  difficult  to  acquire  and  so  hard  to 
practise."     "  If,"  he  continues, "  the  mind  is  large  enough 
and  varied  enough  to  make  a  philosophy  of  mind  possible, 
is  the  soul  such  a  trifling  part  of  man  that  it  is  not 
worth  while  seeking  to  frame  a  science  of  it  ? — a  science 
of  it  which  men  can  learn,  and  which  can  be  a  guide 
and  help  in  practice  to  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  the 
highest  things  of  life  ? "     He   enlarges  upon  the  com- 
plexity   of    soul-analysis.       "  It    requires    intense    dis- 
crimination   and    knowledge    of    human    nature — much 
and  deep  study  of  human  life  and  character.     The  man 
with  whom  you  speak  being  made  up  of  two  ideals — 
his  own  and  yours,  and  one  real — God's,  it  is  one  of 
the  hardest  possible  tasks  to  abandon  your  ideal  of  him 
and  get  to  know  the  real — God's.     Then  having  known 
it  so  far  as  possible  to  man,  there  remains  the  greatest 


STUDENT  LIFE  23 

difficiilty  of  all — to  introdnce  him  to  himself."  The  scope 
of  the  paper  is  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
short  quotations,  but  it  may  be  mentioned  that  it  has 
been  reprinted  in  a  posthumous  volume  of  Drummond's 
papers.  It  is  well  worthy  of  perusal.  After  discussion 
of  practical  points,  and  an  incisive  criticism  of  eminent 
religious  workers,  he  concludes :  "  One  thing  I  can 
assure  you  of.  If  any  man  develops  this  faculty  of 
reading  others,  of  reading  them  in  order  to  profit  by 
them,  he  will  never  be  without  practice.  Men  do  not 
say  much  about  these  things,  but  the  amount  of  spiritual 
longing  in  the  world  at  the  present  moment  is  absolutely 
incredible." 

Within  a  month  of  that  "  present  moment,"  Messrs. 
Moody  and  Sankey  paid  their  first  visit  to  Edinburgh, 
and  Drummond  and  his  fellow-students  were  enabled,  in 
the  work  of  the  great  revival  which  followed,  to  put  this 
"  scientific  treatment "  to  the  test. 


CHAPTER  III, 

The  Moody  Campaign. 

IT  is  outwith  the  province  of  this  sketch  to  attempt 
any  adequate  account  of  the  great  revival  of 
1873—74.  The  present  chapter,  and  that  which 
immediately  follows,  will  be  devoted,  as  exclusively  as 
possible,  to  a  narrative  of  Drummond's  actual  share 
in  the  campaign.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  two 
American  evangelists,  whose  names  are  now  familiar 
wherever  the  gospel  is  preached  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
tongue,  after  landing  in  Liverpool  in  June  1873,  found 
that  the  friends  who  had  suggested  their  visit  had  died; 
conducted  a  series  of  meetings  in  York  with  compara- 
tively small  success,  and  another  series  in  Sunderland, 
with  little  more ;  passed  to  Newcastle,  where  first  the 
ice  seemed  to  be  broken,  their  singleness  of  purpose 
appreciated,  and  their  methods  of  work  approved ;  and 
came  thence  to  Edinburgh  in  November. 

Drummond,  with  Stalker  and  several  others,  was 
among  those  who  arranged  for  Moody's  first  meeting 
for  young  men  in  Edinburgh ;  and  from  that  day  he 
threw  himself,  heart  and  soul,  into  the  work,  convinced 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  distinctly  working  through 
the  efforts  of  the  evangelists.  In  the  "inquiry-room" 
he  had  abundance  of  opportunity  for  that  individual 
treatment  of  persons  awakened  to  an  anxiety  as  to 
their    spiritual    condition,    which    he    had  so    strongly 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  25 

desiderated  in  his  essay  on  "  Spiritual  Diagnosis."  It 
is  upon  record  that  he  was  even  to  be  seen  in  Princes 
Street,  at  the  Eegister  House  corner,  the  busiest  centre 
in  the  traffic  of  the  city,  distributing  tracts  and  similar 
literature.  "  There  was  nothing,"  Mr.  Moody  has  said, 
"  that  he  would  not  undertake  to  do  to  help  spread  the 
evangelistic  work  among  his  friends  in  the  University." 
The  fame  of  the  Edinburgh  meetings  soon  got  abroad, 
and,  as  the  evangelists  could  not  yet  leave  the  city, 
"  the  students  went  all  over  the  country  holding 
meetings,  especially  for  young  men,  and  the  fire  of 
revival  burst  out  wherever  they  went."  "  I  was  a 
great  deal  with  Drummond  at  that  time,"  says  Dr. 
Stalker,  "  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  in 
some  respects  he  was,  from  the  first,  the  best  speaker 
I  ever  heard.  There  was  not  a  particle  of  what  is 
usually  denominated  oratory;  for  this  he  was  far  too 
much  in  earnest.  It  was  quiet,  simple,  without  art ; 
yet  it  was  the  perfection  of  art;  for  there  was  in  it 
an  indescribable  charm,  which  never  failed  to  hold  the 
audience  spellbound,  from  the  first  words  to  the  last." 

Writing  in  1894  of  the  great  evangelist,  Drummond 
said :  "  No  man  is  more  willing  to  stand  aside  and  let 
others  speak.  His  search  for  men  to  whom  the  people 
will  listen,  for  men  who,  whatever  the  meagreness  of 
their  message,  can  yet  hold  an  audience,  has  been  life- 
long, and  whenever  he  finds  such  men  he  instantly 
seeks  to  employ  them."  Mr.  Moody  was  quick  to 
discern  Drummond's  gifts,  and  induced  him  to  suspend 
his  College  course  and  give  his  undivided  attention  to 
co-operation  with  the  evangelists  in  their  tour  through- 
out Great  Britain.  This  arranged,  Drummond  was 
despatched  with  another  student,  named  Stewart,  to 
Sunderland.  Hitherto  the  deputations  from  Edinburgh 
had  contented  themselves  with  a  single  meeting  in  each 


26  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

place,  but  in  Sunderland  a  further  development  took 
place.  "  The  deputies,"  he  has  told  us  himself,  "  were 
armed  with  a  solitary  address  apiece,  but,  consider- 
ing the  distance  they  had  come,  the  local  committee 
arranged  for  two  nights  instead  of  one,  and  the  young 
evangelists  had  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation  by 
cutting  their  one  address  in  two.  So  much  interest 
was  awakened  in  their  report,  that  they  were  next  urged 
to  extend  their  visit  for  a  third  night,  and  this  led  to 
a  fourth,  and  a  fifth,  and  so  on  for  about  a  fortnight. 
By  this  time  churches  were  opened  and  crowded  nightly 
in  different  parts  of  the  town ;  and  the  surprised  youths 
— for  they  were  almost  boys — found  themselves  in  the 
heart  of  a  deep  and  growing  revival  movement.  How 
their  slender  resources  lasted  out  the  fortnight  remains 
their  secret,  but  the  mere  extension  of  the  work  de- 
manded fresh  recruits,  and  one  or  two  of  their  former 
colleagues  were  telegraphed  for  to  come  to  their  help 
without  delay." 

From  Sunderland,  Drummond  moved  on,  un- 
accompanied now,  to  Newcastle  and  Hartlepool.  In 
October  he  crossed  to  Ireland  with  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey,  and  took  part  in  a  movement  which  was 
characterised  by  the  Times  as  "  the  most  remarkable 
ever  witnessed  in  Ireland."  First  in  Belfast,  and  then 
in  Dublin,  he  was  principally  occupied  in  conducting 
the  meetings  for  young  men ;  and  he  found  so  much 
acceptance  that,  in  Dublin,  and  time  and  again  through- 
out the  campaign,  he  was  left  behind  by  the  evangelists 
to  carry  on  the  work  until  fresh  fields  demanded  his 
labours.  From  Dublin  he  came  over  to  Manchester, 
and  at  once  took  charge  of  the  meetings  for  young 
men.  "  At  first,"  wrote  the  Manchester  correspondent 
of  the  Daily  News,  "  the  Oxford  Hall  was  found  more 
than  large  enough  for  all  who  cared  to  assemble,  and 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  27 

when  the  Free  Trade  Hall  was  adventured  upon  there 
were  a  good  many  empty  benches.  But  day  by  day 
the  excitement  rose,  and  if  there  were  any  hall  in  the 
city  that  would  hold  15,000  people  it  would  certainly 
be  filled  at  every  one  of  the  meetings."  But  on  7th 
January  Drummond  had  to  move  on  to  Sheffield,  where 
he  continued  until  the  28th  of  the  month,  "the  last 
meeting  for  young  men  being  the  best  of  all."  Then 
he  followed  his  leaders  to  Liverpool.  In  this  city, 
perhaps  more  than  in  any  other,  Drummond's  work 
seems  to  have  borne  abundant  fruit. 

A  contemporary  account  of  the  work  in  Liverpool, 
written  in  the  beginning  of  March  1875,  may  be 
quoted  :  "  The  nightly  gatherings  in  the  Circus,  from 
nine  to  ten,  have  been  well  sustained  during  the  past 
week,  and  have  been  fraught  with  interest.  Mr. 
Henry  Drummond  invariably  presides,  and  conducts 
the  proceedings  with  much  tact  and  discretion.  He 
throws  aside  all  formalism,  and  endeavours  to  give  the 
meeting  as  much  of  a  family  and  social  aspect  as 
possible,  in  order  to  remove  the  natural  diffidence  that 
most  young  men  feel  in  making  any  public  statement 
about  their  conversion,  which  may  be  very  recent,  or 
spiritual  experience,  which  may  not  have  been  very 
deep  or  well  defined.  While  the  meetings  are  free  to 
all  who  may  feel  disposed  to  speak,  any  attempt  to 
raise  controversy  on  disputed  points  of  doctrine  is 
rigorously  repressed.  Such  a  thing,  however,  seldom 
occurs."  Later,  Drummond  reported  that  "  for  the 
last  few  evenings  there  had  been  a  nightly  average  of 
one  hundred  young  men  seeking  Christ."  From  another 
account,  we  learn  of  a  nightly  average  attendance  of  1400 
at  the  Circus.  Mention  is  made  of  his  "gentleness  .  .  . 
only  surpassed  by  the  earnestness  with  which  he  carries 
out  and  controls  this  most  successful  service  of  grace." 


28  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

On  4th  April  Drummond  had  again  to  remove  to  a 
new  field  of  operations,  this  time  London  itself,  where 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  had  already  been  grappling 
with  a  tremendous  amount  of  work.  On  his  last  Sunday 
in  Liverpool,  Drummond  had  three  farewell  meetings — 
with  the  general  public  (when,  it  may  be  noted,  he 
spoke  from  the  verse,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of 
God ") ;  with  Christian  working-men  in  their  everyday 
clothes;  and  with  his  favourite  gathering  of  lads  and 
boys. 

Both  in  the  north  of  London  and  in  the  East  End 
Drummond  had  a  free  hand  in  the  conduct  of  the 
young  men's  meetings.  At  the  great  Convention  at  the 
close  of  the  campaign,  however,  Drummond  characterised 
the  work  at  Liverpool  as  perhaps  the  most  successful, 
and  made  particular  reference  to  the  special  gatherings 
of  working-men  and  of  boys.  "  The  young  men  of  Great 
Britain,"  he  continued,  "  have  not  been  utilised  as  they 
might  be.  We  talk  of  the  mineral,  intellectual,  and 
scientific  wealth  of  England,  but  these  are  nothing  in 
point  of  usefulness  to  the  world  compared  with  her 
wealth  of  young  men,  if  they  were  once  stirred  up  to 
the  knowledge  that  they  could  win  souls  to  Christ." 

Twenty  years  later,  Drummond  wrote  of  Mr.  Moody's 
great  campaign:  "It  was  the  writer's  privilege,  as  a  humble 
camp-follower,  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  campaign 
personally,  from  town  to  town  and  from  city  to  city, 
throughout  the  three  kingdoms,  for  over  a  year.  And 
time  has  only  deepened  the  impression,  not  only  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  results  immediately  secured,  but  equally 
of  the  permanence  of  the  after  effects  upon  every  field 
of  social,  philanthropic,  and  religious  activity." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Moody  Campaign — {continued). 

EOE  Drummond,  the  campaign  closed  with  the  London 
meetings,  and  when  they  were  over  he  turned  his 
steps  homeward.  On  his  way,  however,  he  visited 
Liverpool,  in  order  to  preside  over  and  take  part  in  a 
Young  Men's  Convention,  held  on  20th  May.  One 
feature  of  the  programme  was  the  interrogation  of  a 
"question-drawer."  Drummond  filled  the  post  of  question- 
drawer,  and,  as  his  replies  to  many  of  the  queries 
submitted  are  of  value  in  indicating  the  stage  of 
development  at  which  his  ideas  about  the  work  of 
evangelism  had  arrived  at  this  time,  no  apology  is 
necessary  for  making  extensive  quotations  from  them. 
The  greater  number  of  the  inquiries  had  reference 
to  methods  of  work.  The  following  selection  is 
representative : — 

"  What  are  the  fundamental  requirements  for  a  chair- 
man ? — First  of  all,  I  should  ^d^y  personal  piety  ;  secondly, 
geniality  and  good  temper ;  then,  intense  sympathy  with 
everybody.  There  are  hundreds  of  other  things,  but 
these  are  the  most  essential. 

"How  are  we  to  prevent  chairmen  from  becoming 
bores  ? — I  think  it  is  impossible. 

"  Is  it  a  good  thing  for  converts  to  give  their  experi- 
ence in  a  meeting  ? — That  is  a  vital  question.     In  some 

29 


30  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

circumstances,  I  should  say  not.  But  it  very  much 
depends  upon  the  motive.  A  young  man  comes  in  here 
who  has  newly  given  his  heart  to  God.  Away  in  yonder 
gallery  he  sees  half  a  dozen  young  men,  once  his 
companions  in  sin.  They  do  not  know  he  has  changed 
sides.  He  knows  they  have  not.  Shall  he  not  rise 
and  say  to  them,  '  Young  men,  you  know  who  I  am, 
and  what  I  have  been.  I  want  to  tell  you  that  God 
has  been  good  to  me.  He  has  led  me  to  Christ.  I 
mean  to  try  and  follow  Him.  He  is  a  good  Master. 
May  God  help  you  to  turn  this  very  night,  for  Jesus 
Christ's  sake '  ?  Would  not  this  have  more  real  effect 
upon  them  than  all  the  sermons  they  ever  heard  in  their 
lives  ?  I  know  it  has  had  upon  thousands.  Of  course 
it  may  be  carried  too  far,  but  so  may  everything.  If 
the  convert  speaks  well,  I  should  not  encourage  him 
to  speak  a  second  time ;  at  least  not  ordinarily,  or  for 
some  time  to  come.  But  if  he  just  barely  escapes 
breaking  down,  and  feels  thoroughly  ashamed  of  himself 
when  he  sits  down,  I  do  not  think  it  would  spoil  him 
to  speak  occasionally. 

"  How  can  we  get  young  men  who  are  bashful  and 
reserved  to  take  part  in  these  meetings  ? — In  some  cases 
it  should  not  be  done  at  all ;  God  does  not  want  all 
the  world  to  be  public  men.  In  other  cases,  these  men 
become  the  best  workers.  I  think  the  man  who  has 
just  to  be  dragged  out  of  his  shell  becomes  generally  of 
most  use.  Then,  he  does  it  only  for  Christ.  But  one 
should  not  ask  a  bashful  man  right  off  to  take  a  leading 
part  in  the  meeting.  Let  him  begin  in  a  small  way. 
Give  him  a  chapter  to  read,  or  the  requests  for 
prayer ;  then  get  him  to  lead  in  prayer,  and  so  draw 
him  out. 

"  Should  young  converts  preach  in  the  open  air,  or 
some  experienced   Christian  ? — I   should   think,  one  of 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  31 

each.  Let  one  say  how  it  is  to  he  done,  and  the  other 
how  it  has  heen. 

"  What  are  the  right  sort  of  men  to  preach  in  the 
open  air  ? — The  best  men  we  have.  I  think  street 
preaching  is  spoiled  because  we  think  'Anybody  will 
do  to  preach  in  the  streets.' 

"  Should  respectable  young  men  be  expected  to  go 
into  the  streets  to  invite  other  young  men  to  attend 
these  meetings  ? — Every  Christian  should  be  respect- 
able. 

"  How  can  you  get  sleepy  and  lazy  Christian  young  men 
to  work  ? — I  was  in  the  room  of  a  Y.M.C.A.  lately,  and 
asked  one  of  the  members  what  he  was  doing  in  the  way 
of  evangelistic  work.  He  said,  '  Nothing.'  I  asked  the 
reason.  '  Why,'  he  said,  '  I've  never  got  a  call.'  I 
took  him  by  the  arm  and  led  him  to  the  window ;  a 
young  man  was  staggering  past  under  the  influence  of 
drink.  '  There,'  I  said,  '  there's  your  call ;  go  and  rescue 
your  brother  from  his  drunkard's  grave.'  He  left  the 
room.  I  do  not  know  what  the  result  was  to  the 
drunkard,  but  I  know  that  the  young  man  became  the 
most  earnest  worker  the  Association  had.  Let  us  try 
to  let  others  feel  the  burden  of  perishing  souls ;  so  that 
if  a  lazy  Christian  has  no  stimulus  within  him,  he  may 
have  it  without  him  at  every  turn  of  the  street. 

"  How  are  we  to  keep  up  the  interest  of  these  meetings 
in  summer  ? — There  will  no  doubt  be  a  great  deal  of 
competition,  and  I  would  not  interfere  with  much  of  it. 
Let  cricket  go  on,  for  instance,  but  try  to  get  the  young 
men  who  play  cricket  with  you  one  night  to  come  here 
with  you  the  next. 

"  Should  we  have  religious  addresses  at  young  men's 
meetings  ? — Yes,  most  decidedly ;  but  the  difficulty  is  to 
get  men  to  give  them  without  preaching  or  becoming 
stale. 


32  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

"  Should  women  be  admitted  to  young  men's  meetings  . 
— Obviously  not.  A  young  men's  meeting  is  a  young 
men's  meeting.  Let  women  have  meetings  of  their 
own  if  they  like ;  only,  if  they  call  them  women's 
meetings,  don't  let  them  let  men  in. 

"  Should  young  men's  meetings  be  varied,  or  what 
kind  of  meetings  should  they  be  ? — Meetings  for  different 
classes  are  a  splendid  thing  if  the  interest  begins  to 
droop — one  night  given  up  to  clerks,  another  to  carters, 
and  another  to  telegraph  boys ;  another  to  policemen, 
another  to  cabmen,  another  to  sailors,  and  so  on, 

"  How  would  you  deal  with  sceptics  and  infidels  ? 
Is  it  well  to  enter  into  a  discussion  with  them  ? — I 
think  not.  Certainly  never  in  an  inquiry-room.  Few 
who  come  there  are  genuine ;  but  one  comes  across  a 
case  of  really  honest  doubting  sometimes,  worth  following 
up,  and  entitled  to  it. 

"  Should  loafers  be  allowed  to  attend  these  meetings, 
when  their  manifest  object  is  begging  ? — I  am  sorry  to 
say  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  '  professional  inquiry 
man '  who  gets  his  living  out  of  it.  These  men  have 
been  '  anxious  inquirers '  all  their  lives,  and  the  young 
men's  meetings  are  a  splendid  reaping-grouud  for  them. 
I  am  afraid  it  is  the  truest  kindness  to  discourage  them 
absolutely.  They  have  been  traced  on  some  occasions 
from  the  doors  of  these  meetings  straight  into  public- 
houses.  Some  of  them  are  very  perplexing.  I  used 
to  think  it  was  almost  worth  while  being  taken  in 
ninety-nine  times  for  the  sake  of  the  hundredth,  who 
might  turn  out  well.  But  even  the  hundredth  often 
turns  out  to  be  a  more  accomplished  hypocrite  than 
the  others,  and  one  really  does  not  know  what  to  do. 

"  What  are  the  main  external  hindrances  to  young 
men's  meetings  ?— The  main  hindrances  are  criticising 
Christians  and  cold  Christians." 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  33 

From  Drummond's  dicta  upon  points  of  individual 
conduct  and  religion,  the  following  may  be  quoted : — 

"  How  should  a  Christian  young  man  dress  ? — That  is  a 
great  puzzler  to  begin  with.  I  should  say  he  ought  to 
dress  so  that  there  should  be  nothing  remarkable  about 
it — so  that,  after  you  had  said  good-bye  to  him,  you 
could  not  tell  what  he  had  on  at  all. 

"  Should  Christian  young  men  attend  theatres,  and 
sanction  theatre-going  on  the  part  of  others  ? — I  cannot 
say  anything  about  that  for  others ;  I  can  only  speak 
for  myself.  I  think  if  a  young  man  can  look  in 
his  Heavenly  Father's  face  at  night  and  say,  '  To 
me  to  live  is  Christ,'  the  question  will  never  trouble 
him. 

"  Should  Christian  young  men  become  teetotallers  ? — • 
I  don't  know.  That  is  a  question  every  man  must  settle 
for  himself.  '  Let  every  man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his 
own  mind.' 

"  Should  Christian  young  men  smoke  in  the  streets  ? — • 
That  is  one  of  the  questions  for  each  man  to  settle  for 
himself.  I  know  a  young  man  who  has  spoken  in  this 
hall,  who  was  a  great  smoker.  He  was  brought  to 
Christ  a  short  time  ago,  and  on  returning  home  at  night 
from  the  young  men's  meeting  he  used  invariably  to 
smoke  a  cigar.  One  night,  after  a  very  spiritual  meeting, 
on  the  way  home  he  overtook  a  young  man,  and  felt  a 
burning  desire  to  speak  to  him  about  his  soul.  But  then 
he  had  a  cigar  in  his  mouth.  Somehow  or  other,  it 
seemed  to  stand  in  the  way.  He  could  not  well  define 
how.  '  Speaking  to  a  man  about  his  soul,  with  his  cigar 
in  his  mouth,'  he  repeated  to  himself.  There  was  an 
anomaly  somewhere.  Eeason  it  out  he  could  not ;  but, 
somehow,  it  did  not  seem  consistent.  He  must  either 
lose  his  cigar  or  his  opportunity.  He  chose  the  former 
3 


34  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

alternative,  and  he  never  smoked  coming  home  from  the 
meeting  again. 

"  What  do  you  think  keeps  young  men  from  becoming 
Christians  ? — Some  special  sin  which  they  prefer  to 
Christ — I  think  some  one,  definite  sin.  In  every  life,  I 
believe,  there  is  some  one  particular  sin,  outstanding 
only  to  oneself,  different  in  different  cases,  but  always 
one  with  which  the  secret  history  is  woven  through  and 
through.  This  is  that  which  the  unconverted  man 
will  not  give  up  for  Christ." 

About  this  time  Drummond  wrote  a  paper  entitled 
"  How  to  Conduct  a  Young  Men's  Meeting,"  and  for  those 
whose  interest  in  the  present  sketch  is  impersonal,  and 
is  rather  in  the  evolution  of  an  evangelist  than  in 
Drummond  as  an  individual,  it  may  be  desirable  to 
rescue  this  pronouncement  from  the  columns  of  the 
contemporary  newspaper  in  which  it  appeared,  and  from 
the  oblivion  which,  sooner  or  later,  overtakes  all  con- 
tributions to  the  periodical  press : — 

"  Thinldng  over  it. — First  of  all  pray  about  it.  See 
if  God  wants  you  to  get  it  up.  If  God  does,  be  sure 
that  you  are  really  willing  to  do  your  part.  Kemember 
that  Satan  would  give  a  good  deal  to  have  you  let  the 
thing  alone,  and  be  prepared  to  deal  honestly  with  the 
excuses  which  he  will  put  into  your  mind  against  it. 
Take  up  the  questions  of  personal  inconvenience,  sacrifice 
of  your  time,  possibility  of  losing  certain  friendships, 
and  many  others  which  will  at  once  suggest  themselves, 
and  ask  yourself  candidly,  '  Ought  I  to  let  these  things 
stand  in  the  way  ? '  Settle  them  at  once  for  what  they 
are  worth,  and  give  God  the  benefit  of  any  bias. 

"  Then,  after  counting  the  cost,  if  you  really  mean  to 
go  on,  let  every  fear  about  consequences,  every  doubt 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  35 

about  the  success  of  it,  every  suspicion  of  failure,  vanish. 
You  have  all  the  powers  of  heaven  at  your  back,  and 
you  must  succeed.  Make  up  your  mind  to  this  at  once, 
and  go  forward  in  the  fulness  of  trust  in  God.  Do  not 
be  frightened  at  your  own  inexperience,  nor  think  how 
exceptionally  '  hard  to  move '  your  town  is.  It  is  God 
who  is  to  do  the  work,  and  not  you ;  so  you  may  safely 
leave  all  anxiety  in  His  hands.  Above  all,  do  not  be 
afraid  of  making  mistakes.  Everybody  makes  mistakes ; 
and  the  greatest  mistake  you  could  make  would  be  not 
to  begin  at  all. 

"  Preliminary  Stc]3s. — Look  out  three  or  four  other 
young  men  whom  you  think  you  might  get  to  join  you 
in  it.  In  every  district  there  are  three  or  four  young 
men  who  usually  take  the  lead  in  such  things ;  do  not 
go  to  them.  If  they  are  worth  anything  their  hands 
will  be  already  full ;  but  that  is  not-  the  reason.  Young 
men  would  take  it  from  them  as  a  matter  of  course,  but 
it  would  not  have  the  same  effect.  Get  them  to  pray 
for  you,  and  to  counsel  you,  but  let  the  new  workers 
come  to  the  front. 

"  Remember  it  is  quite  as  important  to  develop  new 
workers  as  new  converts.  Therefore  pick  out  three  or 
four  new  men,  young  men  whom  young  men  would  like 
— Christians  of  course.  They  may  not  be  workers,  very 
possibly  because  they  never  got  the  chance.  The  Church 
has  a  wealth  of  such  young  men,  men  whom  it  is  at 
once  her  loss  and  her  sin  that  she  has  never  set  to  work. 
Call  on  one  or  two  personally ;  tell  out  all  that  has  been 
passing  through  your  own  mind,  how  you  have  grown 
ashamed  at  never  having  done  anything  for  Christ,  how 
you  have  begun  to  yearn  for  the  souls  of  the  young  men 
around  you,  how  God  has  laid  it  upon  your  heart  to 
make  a  humble  effort  to  reach  them.  Do  not  get  their 
answer  upon  the  spot,  but  after  a  brief  prayer  that  God 


35  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

will  lead  them  to  comply  or  refuse  according  as  it  will 
be  for  His  glory,  say  you  will  call  back  again  in  a 
day  or  two.  Spend  the  interval  yourself  in  ceaseless 
prayer. 

"  The  First  Meeting. — The  first  meeting  will  naturally 
be  a  workers'  meeting.  Let  it  be  anywhere — in  your 
own  bedroom,  for  instance.  If  half  a  dozen  come,  it  is 
well.  If  three  come,  thank  God.  God  can  work  with 
three.  It  is  not  His  way  to  work  with  crowds ;  it  never 
has  been.  Individual  men  are  His  instruments — units. 
The  New  Testament  itself  is  but  a  brief  biography,  and 
the  pages  of  the  Old  are  marked  with  the  lives  of  men, 
not  with  the  graves  of  nations.  Therefore,  be  encouraged 
with  your  handful.  '  Where  tivo  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  My  name,  there  am  I.'  Let  this  meeting 
be  continued  every  second  night,  say,  for  a  week.  Let 
it  be  a  week  of  consecration  and  prayer.  Let  the 
workers  get  filled  with  the  Spirit.  Let  them  determine 
to  take  one  month  clean  out  of  their  lives  and  give  it 
away  to  God.  If  they  do,  they  will  not  need  to  be 
asked  about  the  second  month — -it  will  be  God's  too. 

"  Meantime  let  a  hall  be  engaged,  a  small  cheerful 
place,  unsectarian  if  possible,  a  place  which  would  be 
popular  with  young  men.  A  music  hall  or  an  empty 
theatre  may  often  be  had  in  summer ;  as  a  last  alter- 
native, the  schoolroom  of  a  church ;  or  even,  at  a  push, 
a  tent  could  be  hired  for  a  few  pounds.  Then  let  a  few 
unpretentious  tickets  be  printed.  Let  them  be  of  the 
very  best  quality,  containing  a  courteous  invitation  to 
the  meeting.  Any  cant  will  kill  the  meeting  at  the  very 
outset.  Let  the  invitations  be  delivered  personally  to 
every  young  man  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  accompanied 
by  a  respectful  verbal  request  that  it  would  be  a  favour 
if  they  would  make  an  effort  to  come.  It  might  even 
be  whispered  about  that  Mr.  So-and-So  (who  had  not 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  37 

been  identified  with  '  this  kind  of  thing '  before)  was 
expected  to  preside,  and  you,  Mr.  Blank  (who  had 
certainly  never  previously  been  known  to  come  out  as 
a  Christian)  would  probably  speak,  so  that  curiosity  and 
surprise  being  awakened,  an  audience  would  be  almost  a 
certainty. 

"  The  Arrangement  of  the  Meeting. — Large  platforms 
should,  if  possible,  be  avoided.  A  little  table,  a  few 
yards  from  the  centre  of  the  room,  with  the  chairs 
ranged  round  in  semicircles,  makes  probably  the  best 
arrangement.  This  is,  at  all  events,  unostentatious,  takes 
away  the  appearance  of  speechifying,  or  delivering  set 
addresses,  and  gives  that  homely,  informal  character  to 
the  meeting  which  should  be  specially  aimed  at.  Any- 
thing which  will  reduce  the  character  of  the  speaking 
from  speechifying  to  plain,  honest  talking,  even  in  form, 
is  of  more  value  in  a  distinctively  young  men's  meeting 
than  one  who  does  not  know  young  men  might  imagine. 
A  harmonium  and  a  few  leading  voices  to  form  a  small 
choir  are,  of  course,  a  great  acquisition.  It  is  need- 
less to  add  that  all  who  have  an  official  charge  of 
the  meeting,  such  as  handing  about  hymn  -  books, 
and  showing  the  audience  to  their  seats,  should  be 
gentlemen. 

"  The  Programme. — The  meeting  should  only  last  an 
hour.  From  nine  to  ten  at  night  is  undoubtedly  the 
best  time.  Theoretically,  this  late  hour  is  ridiculous ; 
but  the  stern  law  of  experience  has  peremptorily  proved 
it  to  be  right.  All  the  recent  good  work  amongst  young 
men  throughout  the  country  has  gone  on  from  nine  to 
ten  at  night.  There  are  hundreds  of  objections  to  it — 
objections  of  great  weight.  They  are  all  granted.  It 
would  be  of  immense  advantage  if  an  earlier  hour  would 
suit ;  that  is  all  we  can  say.  The  reasons  for  the 
popularity  of  the  late  hour  seem  to  be  these :  many  do 


38  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

not  leave  business  till  very  late;  some  have  evening 
classes,  over  at  nine ;  some  have  Church  work,  home 
duties,  and  other  engagements,  which  do  not  set  them 
free  earlier. 

"  Then  no  one  grudges  dropping  into  the  meeting 
when  the  day  is  practically  done;  but  an  earlier  one 
breaks  up  the  whole  evening,  and  this  is  a  serious 
matter  when  the  meeting  may  run  on  for  weeks  or 
months,  as  it  ought  to  do,  if  there  is  any  life  in  it  at 
all.  The  less  formidable  the  meeting  can  be  made  to 
those  who  are  invited,  who  are  not  Christians  (who 
naturally  look  on  it  as  a  kind  of  nuisance  at  anyrate), 
the  better;  any  young  men  are  not  going  to  lose  a  quiet 
row,  or  a  smoke,  or  their  innings  at  cricket,  for  a 
religious  meeting. 

"  Then  the  meeting  should  be  held  every  night.  It 
should  run  right  through  everything — wet  nights,  fine 
nights,  long  nights,  short  nights.  Do  not  say,  'Well, 
we'll  have  it  tliree  nights  a  week  to  begin  with — best  to 
begin  with  a  trial.'  No,  it  isn't !  If  you  have  faith 
enough  for  three  nights  a  week,  you  may  as  well  have 
faith  for  seven.  You  see,  a  young  man  comes  on 
Monday  night,  and  if  you  have  no  meeting  for  him  on 
Tuesday,  he  goes  to  the  theatre.  The  men  who  would 
do  that  are  the  very  men  you  want  to  get  hold  of. 
Therefore  let  your  meeting  be  an  institution.  If  it 
should  only  be  a  small  one,  or  a  temporary  one,  never 
mind.     Let  it  be  an  institution  while  it  lasts. 

"  The  Chairman. — A  great  deal  depends  upon  the 
chairman.  To  young  men,  he  should  be  a  sample 
Christian.  He  should  be  youthful,  genial,  sympathetic, 
natural,  ready.  Gentle  withal,  he  should  know  how  to 
be  firm  without  being  severe,  and  to  respect  the  feelings 
of  his  audience  more  than  the  feelings  of  an  individual. 
There  are  men  who  attract  men.     Therefore,  if  you  have 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  3c 

half  a  dozen  men  whose  hearts  are  in  the  right  place 
choose  him  above  all  who  is  the  most  liheable,  who  lives 
in  that  mysterious  atmosphere  of  natural  magnetism 
the  influence  of  which  is  as  difficult  to  define  as  to 
resist. 

"  The  chairman  should  be  to  the  meeting  very  much 
what  the  chef  de  hdton  is  to  an  orchestra — to  keep  time 
and  tune.  His  stock  in  trade  consists  of  a  Bible,  a 
hymn-book,  a  watch  with  a  seconds-hand,  a  cheery  smile, 
and  an  eye  'without  any  mud  at  the  bottom  of  it,'  as 
Emerson  would  say.  His  duties  are  at  once  very  simple 
and  very  difficult.  The  difficulty  is  in  being  simple  ; 
it  is  so  hard  to  be  unobtrusive.  Then  it  requires  great 
tact  to  gain  influence  over  a  meeting  by  familiarity, 
without  losing  it  in  dignity ;  and  great  delicacy  of 
■handling  to  let  the  sympathetic  elements  in  the  audience 
enjoy  the  sense  of  freedom,  and  the  discordant  ones  at 
the  same  time  the  fulness  of  restraint.  He  fills  the 
post  best  of  whom,  when  the  meeting  is  over,  a  stranger 
would  say,  '  What  an  easy  time  of  it  the  chairman  had  ! 
Just  to  sit  in  the  chair  and  do  nothing.  Why,  anybody 
could  do  that ! '  A  touch  so  light  as  that  is  the  per- 
fection of  all  generalship.  But,  after  all,  it  is  only  God 
who  can  subdue  a  meeting. 

"  The  Bill  of  Fare. — The  speaking,  of  course,  must  be 
done  by  young  men.  If,  as  a  deputation  from  some 
other  town  where  there  has  been  work,  a  stranger  can 
be  got  to  help  (not  to  monopolise)  it  might  give  the 
work  a  better  start ;  but  the  experiment  has  been  tried 
with  local  men  only,  and  succeeded  to  perfection.  After 
an  opening  hymn,  the  chairman  might  call  on  some 
young  man  to  read  the  requests  and  lead  in  prayer — 
a  novice  if  possible,  for  his  own  sake,  if  not  for  the 
meeting's  ;  it  would  draw  him  out.  Then  another  hymn, 
and  a  few  verses  of  the  Bible  read  by  another,  followed, 


40  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

perhaps,  by  a  few  remarks.  After  another  hymn,  two 
very  short  addresses,  of  ten  minutes,  concluded  with 
prayer,  the  benediction,  and  an  earnest  appeal  from 
the  chairman  to  the  undecided  to  stay  to  the  after- 
meeting. 

"  The  addresses  may  be  anything  but  preaching — 
young  men  will  not  stand  being  preached  at  'by  one 
another.  Individual  testimonies  to  personal  change  of 
heart  have  been  found  most  useful  of  all. 

"  Every  Christian  has  his  own  wonderful  little  history 
to  tell ;  and  when  it  bubbles  right  out  of  the  heart, 
with  the  sole  desire  to  glorify  God,  and  bring  sinners 
to  the  Cross,  no  one  ever  thinks  of  the  blundering  and 
the  faltering.  And  if  an  occasional  tear  has  to  be 
brushed  away  from  the  speaker's  eye,  at  the  memory 
of  the  forgiven  but  not  forgotten  past,  there  is  an 
eloquence  in  strong  men's  tears  which  no  voice  can 
ever  express.  After  the  first  night  or  two,  the  meeting 
will  generate  its  own  speakers.  Men's  tongues  will  be 
loosed.  Those  who  never  dreamed  of  speaking  will  find 
they  cannot  keep  silent.  Then,  instead  of  having  two 
addresses,  the  chairman  might  occupy  the  first  twenty 
minutes  himself,  then  throw  the  meeting  open,  and  hear 
from  half  a  dozen,  two  or  three  minutes  each.  By  and 
by,  a  teaching-meeting,  for  Bible  study,  for  which  the 
aid  of  more  experienced  Christians  might  be  called  in, 
should  be  started  three  times  a  week,  an  hour  before 
the  general  meeting,  for  those  who  have  been  impressed, 

"  Conclusion. — Now  for  the  conclusion,  i.e.,  your  con- 
clusion.    Do  you  think  you  will  try  it  ?  " 

The  Moody  campaign  left  its  mark  on  Drummond  for 
life.  It  gained  him  the  lifelong  friendship  of  Dwight 
Lyman  Moody.  In  it  he  served  his  apprenticeship  in 
evangelistic  missionary  method  under  a  past  master  in 


THE  MOODY  CAMPAIGN  41 

the  art.  In  his  actual  work  he  was  enabled  to  outline 
the  evangelical  truths  that  became  the  groundwork  of 
the  teaching  by  which  he  sought  thenceforward  to  re- 
concile young  men  to  the  environment  of  a  Christian 
life.  And  from  1874  onwards,  as  the  Eev.  D.  M.  Eoss 
has  said,  evangelism  was  the  master  -  passion  of  his 
life. 

There  is  a  note  of  puzzled  wonderment  about  Dr. 
John  Watson's  statement  that  "  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  single  fact  in  Drummond's  life  was  his 
unbounded  admiration  for  the  American  Evangelist." 
But  Dr.  Watson  talks  as  an  outsider.  For  those  who 
had  the  privilege  of  working  with  ]\Ioody,  and  especially 
for  those  who  came  under  his  spell,  and  can  look  to 
him  as,  humanly  speaking,  their  spiritual  saviour, 
there  is  no  cause  for  wonder.  To  more  than  Henry 
Drummond,  Moody  was  "  the  biggest  human "  ever 
met. 

His  replies  as  question  -  drawer,  above  quoted,  fur- 
nish some  index  to  the  point  of  development  at 
which  his  teaching  had  arrived  in  1874,  and  we  have 
Mr.  Eoss's  testimony  that  "  even  in  those  early  years 
Drummond  had  his  own  message  to  deliver,  and  his 
own  way  of  delivering  it.  He  had  no  quarrel  with 
the  traditional  evangelism,  but  there  were  many  points 
in  traditional  evangelism  on  which  he  simply  laid  no 
emphasis.  He  found  the  heart  of  Christianity  in  a 
personal  friendship  with  Christ,  and  it  was  his  ambition 
as  an  evangelist  to  introduce  men  to  Christ.  Friend- 
ship with  Christ  was  the  secret  of  a  pure  manhood 
and  a  beneficent  life — the  true  strength  for  overcoming 
temptation,  and  the  true  inspiration  for  manliness  and 
goodness.  It  was  a  simple  message ;  but,  delivered 
with  the  thousand  subtle  influences  radiating  forth 
from    his    strong    and    rich    personality,    it    evoked    a 


42  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

wonderful  response  in  the  crowded  meeting  and  in 
the  quiet  talk  in  the  streets  or  in  young  men's 
lodgings.  There  was  little  dogmatic  teaching  in  his 
message  ;  it  was  not  to  a  theological  creed,  but  to  Christ, 
that  he  burned  to  get  men  introduced." 


CHAPTER  V 

At  the  Pakting  of  the  Ways. 

AS  he  confessed  to  a  friend,  years  after,  Drummond 
never  felt  any  call  to  the  ministry,  and  he  never 
had  any  intention  of  becoming  a  minister.  In  the 
measure  of  success  which  had  rested  upon  his  work 
in  the  great  campaign,  he  thought  he  saw  that  his 
mission  was  to  be  that  of  an  evangelist.  He  had 
always  been  interested  in  evangelistic  work  and 
meetings,  and  recognised  that  divine  work  was  done 
in  them  ;  but  he  could  never  bring  himself  to  think 
of  sitting  down  minister-fashion  to  write  two  sermons 
a  week. 

One  Sunday  forenoon,  however,  sitting  on  the  steps 
at  Bonskeid,  he  had  a  talk  with  Mrs.  George  Barbour,  a 
woman  of  intense,  if  somewhat  individualistic,  religious 
zeal  and  piety ;  and  that  talk  gave  him  something 
of  a  lead.  Mrs.  Barbour  had  been  one  of  the  earliest 
to  welcome  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  to  Edinburgh, 
and  had  acted  as  volunteer  reporter  to  the  religious 
press  in  furnishing  details  of  the  work  of  grace  in 
the  Scottish  metropolis.  It  was  not,  therefore,  from 
any  lack  of  sympathy  with  aggressive  Christian  work 
that  Mrs.  Barbour  now  demonstrated  to  Drummond 
that  "  the  evangelistic  career  was  apt  to  be  a  failure." 
There  might  be  "  a  few  years  of  enthusiasm  and  bless- 
ing,"   perhaps,  and    "  then    carelessness,    no    study,    no 

43 


44  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

spiritual  growth,  and  too  often  a  sad  collapse."  That 
faithful  advice  sent  him  back  to  his  fourth  session  at 
the  New  College,  to  complete  his  theological  curriculum, 
in  the  winter  of  1875-76. 

In  the  Theological  Hall  he  had  never  felt  "  in  it " 
among  the  Divinity  students,  although  he  had  many 
good  friends  among  them ;  and  he  must  have  felt 
more  than  ever  "  out  of  it "  when  he  found  his  old  class- 
mates gone,  and  himself  thrown  into  the  society  of  those 
who  had  been  his  juniors  when  he  left.  He  took  his 
place  quietly,  and,  although  his  fellow-students  were 
somewhat  shy  of  him  at  first,  dreading  that  he  would 
take  an  early  opportunity  of  "  speaking  to  them  about 
their  souls,"  these  soon  found  that  that  was  not  his  way. 

His  evangelistic  zeal,  however,  was  not  in  any  sense 
dormant.  That  winter  he  rented  the  Gaiety  Theatre  on 
Sunday  evenings,  and  induced  a  number  of  his  fellow- 
students  and  friends  to  carry  on  meetings  for  students 
and  young  men  in  this  unconventional  auditorium,  which 
derived  an  additional  recommendation  from  its  proximity 
to  the  University.  There  is  little  record  of  the  objective 
results  of  this  mission.  When  Drummond  himself  spoke, 
and  that  was  seldom,  comparatively,  there  were  large 
gatherings  and  crowded  inquiry  -  meetings.  The  other 
workers  had  not  the  same  experience  to  draw  upon,  nor, 
perhaps,  had  they  the  same  gifts,  and  several  of  them 
have  since  expressed  their  wonder  at  the  patience  with 
which  their  untutored  and  blundering  attempts  at 
evangelistic  preaching  were  received  by  their  audiences. 

But,  in  binding  together  the  workers  in  this  forlorn 
hope,  the  Gaiety  meetings  were  a  distinct  success.  The 
Gaiety  Club  or  brotherhood  was  formed  by  these  men — - 
among  whom  were  James  Stalker,  John  F.  Ewing,  John 
Watson,  D.  M.  Eoss,  Frank  Gordon,  and  Eobert  Barbour 
— and  this  is  perhaps  the  best  point  at  which  to  refer 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS  45 

to  it.  The  members  of  the  Club,  limited  to  ten,  have 
since  its  inception  met  yearly  for  a  week  at  some  remote 
country  inn,  for  the  cultivation  of  fraternal  intercourse ; 
and  these  reunions  of  old  College  friends,  drawn  from 
different  academic  years,  but  linked  together  by  religious 
affinities  and  the  memories  of  student-days,  have  been 
fraught  with  much  spiritual  and  intellectual  stimulus 
for  the  individual  members.  "  In  this  little  circle  of  old 
College  friends,"  says  Mr.  Eoss,  "  Henry  Drummond  had 
a  unique  place.  .  His  mere  presence  was  a  perpetual 
benediction.  His  courtesy  and  thoughtfulness  for  others 
were  unfailing ;  his  playful  humour  was  like  glints  of 
sunshine ;  and  in  the  years  when  his  name  had  become 
a  household  word  in  English-speaking  countries,  his 
forgetfulness  of  self  was  a  rebuke  to  every  vain  and 
selfishly  ambitious  temper,  Drummond  was  a  good 
talker ;  but  what  was  more  striking  than  his  talk  was 
his  capacity  for  listening.  There  was  a  genuine  modesty 
in  him  which  made  it  easy  for  him  to  assume  the  atti- 
tude of  a  learner,  even  towards  those  whose  knowledge 
gave  them  less  right  to  speak  than  himself.  He  stooped 
to  learn  where  another  would  have  exalted  himself  to 
teach.  Often  it  would  happen  that  a  theological  dis- 
cussion would  go  on  for  an  hour  or  two,  in  which 
Drummond  took  no  part.  He  would  lie  back  in  an 
easy -chair  listening  in  perfect  silence.  Then,  at  the 
end,  he  would  ask  a  quiet  question,  or  make  an  epi- 
grammatic remark,  which  was  more  luminous  than  all 
our  talk.  Drummond  was  fond  of  a  quiet  tete-a-tete 
carried  on  to  the  early  morning  hours.  With  that 
modesty  which  never  failed  him,  he  assumed  that  his 
friend  had  much  to  teach  him,  and  sat  at  his  feet  as  a 
learner.  It  was  himself,  probably,  with  his  questions, 
suggestions,  and  caveats,  who  was  kindling  the  light,  but 
he  put  it  down  to  the  other's  credit.     There  was  a  kind 


46  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

of  witchery  in  his  personality  which  drew  the  intellectual 
as  well  as  moral  best  out  of  a  man." 

Eeturniug  to  the  narrative  of  Drummond's  College 
life,  we  may  adduce  the  testimony  of  another  of  his 
fellow-students — now  Professor  Hugh  M.  Scott,  D.D.,  of 
Chicago.  "  Drummond's  mind  loved  to  work  in  the  way 
of  analogy ;  his  fancy  must  ever  light  his  understand- 
ing. .  .  .  While  walking  out  together,  he  said,  '  Scott, 
what  do  you  think  of  sin  ? '  Now,  I  agreed  with  the 
Shorter  Catechism  that  '  sin  is  any  want  of  conformity 
unto  or  transgression  of  the  law  of  God,'  though  I  did 
not  answer  just  that  way.  But  Drummond  was  astride 
an  analogy,  such  as  he  rode  later  in  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World,  and  said  he  had  an  idea  that  sin  was 
largely  negative,  and  referred  to  such  terms  as  mquity, 
the  Greek  word  for  sin,  which  means  to  miss,  to  fail ; 
evil  as  vanity,  a  lie,  darkness,  a  way  that  perishes, 
destruction,  etc.  Here  we  find,  in  his  student-days," 
says  Dr.  Scott,  "  a  view  which  runs  through  all  his  later 
thinking," — a  view  which,  curiously  enough,  was  held  by 
that  other  remarkable  man,  James  Hinton. 

After  completing  his  College  curriculum,  Drummond 
accepted  the  appointment  of  assistant  to  the  Eev.  J.  H. 
Wilson  of  Barclay  free  Church,  Edinburgh,  and  acted  in 
this  capacity  during  the  winter  of  1876—77.  His  duties 
comprised  occasional  pulpit  supply,  visitation  of  the  sick, 
and  supervision  of  the  young  men's  meetings  in  connec- 
tion with  the  congregation.  He  had  the  disadvantage  of 
succeeding  two  brilliant  friends  of  his,  John  Watson  and 
James  Stalker ;  and  altogether  this  was  a  chapter  in  his 
life  which  he  never  cared  to  have  referred  to.  In  the 
memory  of  some  who  are  still  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion, the  most  outstanding  fact  of  his  ministry  was  a 
course  of  six  sermons  upon  the  "  Will  of  God."  Several 
of  these  Barclay  sermons  have  been  published  in  a  post- 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS  47 

humous  volume  {The  Ideal  Life  ;  and  other  Unpublished 
Addresses),  where  those  who  are  interested  in  tracing  the 
development  of  his  theological  views  will  find  material 
to  work  upon.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  notes  of  Drummond's  addresses  to  the  students 
in  1885  were  identified,  by  a  cultured  member  of  the 
Barclay  Church,  as  being  strongly  reminiscent  of  certain 
sermons  preached  during  his  assistantship  in  1876-77. 

Quitting  the  Barclay  Church  in  April  1877,  Drummond 
entered  upon  "  the  most  miserable  time  in  his  life — not 
seeing  what  definite  work  he  could  do  to  earn  his  bread, 
and  yet  get  time  to  preach  the  Kingdom."  He  spent 
the  month  of  July  in  Norway  with  his  friend  Eobert 
Barbour ;  and  in  August  he  took  up  mission  work  in 
the  mining  village  of  Polmont  for  a  few  weeks. 

Although  he  had  completed  attendance  at  all  the 
theological  classes,  he  had  not  qualified  for  the  formal 
licence  to  preach,  which  is  the  seal  of  theological  fitness 
required  of  every  candidate  for  the  Presbyterian  ministry. 
Calling  at  the  Free  Church  College,  one  day,  to  inquire 
as  to  what  subjects  were  prescribed  for  the  examination 
for  licence — although  he  did  not  want  to  be  licensed — 
he  found  some  numbers  of  Nature  which  had  been 
accumulating  for  him.  He  saw  no  use  for  his  Natures, 
now  that  his  College  career  was  at  an  end,  and  gave 
them  to  an  engine-driver  as  he  went  down  the  Mound, 
telling  him  that  he  might  find  them  interesting.  But 
science  was  to  open  the  door  of  hope  for  him  after  all. 
Two  or  three  days  later,  the  death  was  announced  of 
Mr.  Keddie,  Lecturer  on  Natural  Science  in  the  Free 
Church  College  in  Glasgow.  Here  he  saw  a  chance; 
and  he  wrote  to  Principal  Douglas  inquiring  whether 
there  was  any  use  in  his  applying  for  the  lectureship. 
Principal  Douglas  encouraged  him  to  do  so.  He  got  a 
very  commendatory  testimonial  from  Professor  Geikie, 


48  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

as  well  as  some  others,  and  with  the  help  of  these  he 
was  successful  in  obtaining  an  appointment  for  one  year. 
This  was  made  permanent  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  1879. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  following  chapter,  the  duties 
of  the  lectureship  left  Drummond  with  a  large  margin 
of  time  at  his  own  disposal,  just  as  he  had  desired.  In 
the  summer  of  1878  he  undertook  the  duties  of  chaplain 
at  the  Free  Church's  preaching  station  at  Malta,  and 
made  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  sunny  Mediter- 
ranean. In  the  following  summer  he  crossed  to  America 
with  Professor  Geikie ;  but  it  will  be  more  convenient 
to  refer  to  that  and  similar  expeditions  in  later  chapters. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
His  Chair. 

THE  principle  involved  in  the  inclusion  of  a  course 
of  Science  in  the  theological  curriculum  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  was  accepted  by  the  General 
Assembly  so  long  ago  as  1845,  upon  the  motion  of 
Principal  Cunningham,  and  with  the  strong  support  of 
Dr.  Chalmers,  Sir  David  Brewster,  and  Hugh  Miller; 
and  the  lectureship  upon  Natural  Science,  the  duties 
of  which  were  assumed  by  Drummond  at  the  beginning 
of  the  session  1877-78,  was  designed  to  lay  the  fields 
of  science  under  contribution,  in  aid  of  the  accurate 
study  of  the  Bible  and  of  Christian  apologetics.  By 
familiarising  the  minds  of  theological  students  with 
the  terminology  and  fundamental  laws  of  scientific 
thought,  it  had  the  further  advantage  of  qualifying 
them,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  for  intelligent  study 
of  the  literature  of  science. 

In  the  short  session  of  five  months,  and  with  four 
hours  weekly  for  lecturing,  Drummond  was  supposed  to 
teach  the  first  year's  students  the  elements  of  zoology, 
botany,  and  geology,  as  well  as  to  introduce  his  class 
to  the  large  field  of  inquiry  opened  up  by  the  vexed 
question  of  the  inter-relation  of  science  and  religion. 

Clearly,  too  much  was  asked  both  of  Lecturer  and 
students.  Dr.  John  Watson  goes  the  length  of  character- 
ising the  programme  set  before  them  as  "  a  standing 
4 


50  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

absurdity,"  and  others  have  written  of  it  in  much  the 
same  strain.  We  beheve  it  is  the  Eev.  A.  C.  Mackenzie 
of  Dundee  who  has  said  that  the  regulations  were  pre- 
posterous. "  The  course  was  too  wide,  the  time  too 
limited,  and  the  students  too  numerous.  Everybody 
was  compelled  to  attend,  or  else  they  would  pass 
neither  Presbytery  nor  Examination  Board.  Some  of 
his  pupils  had  taken  the  full  range  of  his  course  in  the 
University,  others  had  scarcely  heard  that  there  were 
such  subjects  in  existence."  "  After  his  first  lecture," 
the  above  writer  continues,  "  I  went  round  to  his  room 
and  tabled  my  University  certificates.  He  elevated  his 
eyebrows  over  them  in  a  way  that  he  had,  just  percept- 
ibly shrugged  his  shoulders,  said  nothing,  but  looked 
'  formal  attendance,'  and  formal  attendance  it  was." 

Another  of  his  students — the  Eev.  Hugh  Black,  we 
have  reason  to  believe  —  while  acknowledging  the 
anomaly  of  the  Natural  Science  class,  has  written 
appreciatively  of  the  teaching  which  Drummond  was 
able  to  give  in  spite  of  his  limitations,  if  such  a  term 
may  be  used.  "  Drummond  did  a  world  of  good  by 
teaching  them  some  of  the  general  principles  which 
underlie  all  science,  and  by  making  them  feel  that 
truth  is  indivisible,  whether  it  be  of  science  or  of 
religion.  The  lectureship  was  founded  rather  with  the 
idea  of  taking  the  sting  out  of  science,  and,  if  need  be, 
of  fighting  it  in  the  name  of  religion.  The  situation  is 
changed,  and  he  helped  to  change  it.  He  taught  his 
students  at  least  not  to  fear  science,  and  if  they  could 
not  get  a  complete  reconciliation,  meanwhile,  they  must 
work  with  broad,  flexible  hypotheses,  which  would  keep 
their  minds  from  narrowing  and  hardening.  If  science 
is  to  become  religious,  religion  must  become  scientific. 
Drummond  never  would  give  up  the  effort  after  a 
reconciliation.  .  .  .  Once  a  week  at  College  he  used  to 


HIS  CHAIR  SI 

give  his  class  special  lectures,  beginning  with  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  world,  and  coming  down  to  the  evolution  of 
life.  These  were  intensely  interesting,  and  had  a 
certain  apologetic  purpose,  and  were  more  useful  than 
the  mere  teaching  of  the  rudiments  of  science." 

In  1883,  Mr.  James  Stevenson  of  Largs  offered  the 
sum  of  £6000  to  the  Free  Church,  upon  condition  of 
their  increasing  the  salary  of  the  Lecturer  on  Natural 
Science  in  the  Glasgow  Theological  College,  and  raising 
the  appointment  to  the  status  of  a  professorial  chair. 
At  the  General  Assembly  in  May  1884,  this  offer, 
with  the  conditions  attached,  was  accepted,  upon  the 
motion  of  Principal  Rainy,  seconded  by  the  Eev.  James 
Stalker,  who  said  he  considered  that  a  very  good  defini- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  chair  was  to  be  found  in  the 
labour  of  the  man  who  then  held  the  lectureship.  The 
motion  was  carried  by  two  hundred  and  sixty  votes  to 
ninety-three. 

A  few  days  later,  on  31st  May,  upon  the  motion  of 
the  Eev.  Dr.  Melville,  seconded  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  J.  Hood 
Wilson,  Henry  Drummond  was  appointed  the  first  pro- 
fessor of  Natural  Science  in  the  Glasgow  College.  In 
speaking  to  his  motion,  Dr.  Melville  said  that  Mr. 
Drummond  was  no  mere  scientist.  If  that  were  all,  he 
was  not  the  man  they  wanted.  He  was  first  of  all  a 
religious  man,  and  an  enthusiast  in  religious  work, 
and  then  a  student  of  science  who  had  by  travel, 
and  otherwise,  had  the  opportunity  of  acquainting 
himself  practically  with  many  varieties  of  scientific 
phenomena. 

Upon  authority  granted  by  the  General  Assembly  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Stirling,  Drummond  had  been,  in 
1878,  licensed  to  preach.  He  had  also  received  the 
ordination  of  an  elder.  In  view  of  the  rule  of  the 
Church  requiring  professors,  as  well  as  ministers,  to  be 


53  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

ordained,  Drummond's  acceptance  of  the  chair  brought 
with  it  the  necessity  for  ordination,  much  as  he  dis- 
liked the  idea  of  being  in  orders.  The  ceremony  took 
place  on  4th  November  1884,  in  the  College  Free 
Church,  Glasgow,  when  ordination  was  conferred  by 
the  local  Presbytery,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  after 
the  young  Professor  had  made  satisfactory  reply  to 
the  interrogatories  put  to  him  in  conformity  with  the 
law  of  the  Church.  The  following  account  by  an 
eye-witness,  who  had  been  one  of  his  students,  is  of 
interest : — 

"  Drummond  was  the  last  man  whom  you  could  place 
by  the  woman's  canon  of  dress.  And  yet  his  dress  was 
a  marvel  of  adaptation  to  the  part  he  happened  to 
be  playing.  On  his  ordination  day,  when  most  men 
assumed  a  garb  almost  clerical,  he  was  dressed  like  a 
country  squire,  thus  proclaiming  to  fathers  and  brethren 
and  to  all  the  world  that  he  was  not  going  to  allow 
ordination  to  play  havoc  with  his  chosen  career.  Three 
ex-pupils  of  us  sat  side  by  side  at  that  ordination.  As 
the  moment  approached  when  he  must  publicly  sign  the 
Confession  of  Faith  we  watched  him  keenly.  What 
will  he  do  with  it  ?  we  wondered.  It  would  not  have 
surprised  us  if  he  had  blandly  turned  to  the  Presbytery 
and  said,  *  Eeally,  gentlemen,  I  cannot  sign  this.  Can 
you  not  grant  me  a  dispensation  ? '  Nothing  of  the 
kind.  He  took  the  pen  with  a  graceful  ease,  and  as  he 
did  so  one  of  his  pupils  remarked,  *  Ah,  he's  going  to 
rush  it,  like  the  rest  of  us.'  And  he  did.  Ordination, 
however,  sat  lightly  upon  him.  It  made  no  perceptible 
change  in  his  dress,  demeanour,  or  activity.  Ordination 
was  for  him  not  a  call  to  a  new  line  of  life,  but  a 
necessary  corollary  of  the  professorship,  and  he  sub- 
mitted to  it  only  as  '  an  ordinance  of  men.' " 


HIS  CHAIR  53 

Ordination  is  the  sanction  for  use  of  the  style  of 
"  The  Keverend  "  in  address,  but  Drummond  persistently 
called  the  attention  of  correspondents  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  not  "Eeverend."  Dr.  Watson  tells  us  that  he 
was  wont  to  declare,  in  fun,  that  he  had  no  recollection 
of  being  ordained,  and  that  he  would  never  dare  to 
baptize  a  child.  The  real  reason  was,  doubtless,  the 
strategic  one  of  seeking  to  disarm  suspicion  of  the 
professionalism  which  is,  for  better  or  for  worse, 
associated  with  the  cloth,  and  of  thus  enabling  him  to 
get  alongside  of  men  whom  he  thought  he  could  help  in 
matters  concerning  their  spiritual  welfare. 

If  Professor  Drummond's  intercourse  with  his 
students  was  not  calculated  to  liberate  the  man  of 
science  in  them,  it  was  by  no  means  without  an 
educative  influence.  Of  two  class  examinations  which 
he  held  in  the  year — the  first,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  session,  was  designed  "  not  to  prove  knowledge, 
but  to  prove  ignorance  of  the  most  elementary  things 
that  everybody  ought  to  know."  This  he  called  the 
"  Stupidity  Exam."  In  the  paper  set,  such  questions  as 
the  following  would  commonly  appear : — Of  what  colour 
or  colours  are  the  stars  ? — Why  is  grass  green  ? — 
Why  is  the  sea  salt  ? — Why  is  the  heaven  blue  ? — 
Define  a  volcano. — What  is  a  leaf  ? 

But  it  was  doubtless  in  the  class  excursions  that 
Drummond  got  nearest  to  his  students.  "  It  was  not 
till  one  day,  when,"  says  the  Eev.  Mackintosh  Mackay, 
"  he  took  us  all  on  a  geological  excursion  to  a  limestone 
quarry  some  twenty  miles  from  Glasgow,  that  we  got  to 
know  him.  What  fossils  we  discovered  that  day  I 
have  quite  forgotten :  I  only  know  we  discovered  a 
very  live,  brilliant  specimen  of  nineteenth-century  man ; 
we  discovered  Drummond.  He  was  unlike  all  other 
professors  we  had  known.     These  had  hitherto  been  to 


54  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

us  awful  personages,  and  our  interviews  with  them  were 
few  and  fearful.  Drummond  disclosed  himself  to  us  as 
a  young  man  like  ourselves.  ...  I  remember  towards 
the  end  of  the  day  we  students  had  got  hold  of  some 
empty  trucks  lying  on  a  side  piece  of  rail  which  led  into 
the  quarry.  There  was  a  pretty  steep  incline,  and  we 
thought  it  would  be  fine  fun  to  have  a  run  on  these 
trucks.  But  would  the  Professor  like  it  ?  We  looked 
silently  to  him.  To  our  surprise,  the  Professor,  with  a 
solemn  twinkle  in  his  eye,  said  he  would  come  in  too ! 
As  we  were  deliciously  dashing  down  the  incline,  the 
Professor  began  to  philosophise.  What  was  it  that 
made  this  so  glorious,  while  we  had  been  somnolently 
riding  in  a  railway  train  going  at  a  far  greater  speed  ? 
One  of  the  students  suggested,  '  Because  we  are  doing 
what  is  against  the  law.'  '  No,'  said  Drummond,  '  I 
think  it  is  rather  the  sense  of  motion.  In  a  train  you 
are  shut  up,  while  here  the  wind  is  all  about  you,  and 
you  feel  you  are  going.  In  that,  I  think,  the  stage 
coach  beats  the  locomotive.'" 

Drummond  made  a  practice  of  asking  his  class  to 
spend  a  week  with  him  in  Arran,  at  the  close  of  the 
session,  for  field  work  in  the  subjects  of  class  study, 
entertaining  them  at  his  personal  expense.  The  days 
were  devoted  to  excursions  to  Goatfell,  Glen  Sannox, 
and  other  points  in  that  geologically  rich  locality.  The 
evenings  were  spent  in  talk  of  all  kinds,  when  the  class 
discovered  in  their  Professor  one  of  the  most  interesting 
conversationalists  conceivable.  The  Professor  enjoyed 
these  outings  quite  as  much  as  did  his  class,  as  his 
letters  about  them  prove. 

In  the  pleasant  and  not  unprofitable  work  of  his 
chair  Drummond  spent  the  whole  of  his  professional 
life — influencing  successive  cycles  of  would-be  entrants 
to  the  ministry  of  the  Evangel  which  he  loved.     Dr. 


HIS  CHAIR  55 

George  Adam  Smith  tells  of  an  offer  of  the  Principal- 
ship  of  McGill  University,  Montreal,  received  by 
Drummond  in  the  winter  of  1893—94,  and  declined  after 
careful  consideration.  He  never  had  another  appoint- 
ment :  it  was  as  Professor  Drummond  that  he  was 
known  to  the  end  of  his  life.  In  his  last  session  he 
stuck  at  his  post  in  Glasgow  during  weeks  of  fearful 
pain,  until  it  became  quite  evident  that  he  had  become 
physically  unfit  for  lecturing,  and  until  one  day,  in  Feb- 
ruary 1895,  he  went  home  for  ever,  to  use  Charles 
Lamb's  pathetic  phrase. 


CHAPTER  VIL 

Evangelism  in  Glasgow. 

DEUMMOND'S  professional  work  necessitated  his 
residence  in  Glasgow  for  five  months  in  the  year  ; 
but,  as  he  was  actually  engaged  in  lecturing  for  only 
four  hours  in  the  week,  he  had  a  large  margin  of  spare 
time.  Many  calls  were  made  upon  him,  especially  in 
later  years,  but  he  exercised  a  royal  independence  in 
accepting  and  refusing  the  miscellaneous  invitations  and 
requests  of  which  he  was  the  recipient. 

For  one  thing,  preach  he  would  not.  An  ex-student 
has  put  on  record  an  interesting  incident  in  this  con- 
nection, and  the  passage  will  bear  quotation : — 

"  When  as  an  ex-pupil  you  made  the  usual  claim  upon 
him  to  preach  on,  what  was  to  you,  a  great  occasion,  he 
refused  you  as  if  you  were  proposing  to  confer  a  great 
favour  upon  him,  and  you  could  not  choose  but  love  him 
for  the  way  he  did  it.  Once  I  went  to  confer  this 
favour  upon  him.  In  his  private  room  at  College  he 
received  me  so  kindly  that  I  scarce  could  muster  courage 
to  ask  him.  When  at  last  I  did,  he  said  how  much  he 
wished.  '  But  the  fact  is,'  he  added,  '  I  can't  preach. 
One  has  to  choose  one's  line,  you  know,  and  my  line 
is  evangelism.  If  I  took  your  service  I  should  be 
bombarded  with  similar  things  and  couldn't  resist  them. 
He   was,  however,  a  shrewd  observer  and  man  of  the 

56 


EVANGELISM  IN  GLASGOW  57 

world  withal.  '  Have  you  tried  So-and-So  ? '  (naming  a 
widely  popular  divine  known  also  to  be  susceptible  to 
flattery).  '  No,'  I  said, '  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of 
him.'  '  That  doesn't  matter.  I  suppose  you  know  how  to 
get  him.'  And  then  he  branched  off  to  his  serious  vein. 
'  It's  a  lesson  to  us  all.  I  suppose  in  youth  this  thing 
was  a  mere  foible.  But,  you  see,  the  man  has  lived 
and  the  thing  has  grown  over  him  like  a  fungus,  and 
has  become  glaring :  we  can  all  see  it.  So  you  must 
say,  if  you  can  say  it  with  any  conscience,  that  numbers 
of  your  people  are  very  anxious  to  hear  him,  you  must 
promise  to  make  what  structural  alterations  on  your 
pulpit  he  wishes,  to  advertise  it  in  all  the  papers,  and  to 
send  a  cab  for  and  with  him,  and  if  he  is  not  engaged 
you'll  get  him.' 

"  I  took  my  cue  and  left  Drummond  for  the  great 
man's  house.  On  the  way  my  gorge  rose  at  the  whole 
proceeding.  I  faltered  and  turned  back,  to  find  Drum- 
mond just  finishing  his  lecture.  '  Look  here,  Drummond,' 
I  said, '  I  can't  do  it.  It's  quite  true  that  my  people 
want  to  hear  him,  but  the  rest  of  it  is  too  sickening. 
You  really  must  help  me.  That  was  a  fine  sermon  of 
yours  about  the  fungus.  Why  not  preach  that  ? '  In 
the  end  he  came  to  terms  with  me.  There  was  to  be  no 
advertising,  and  it  was  to  be  announced  to  my  own  people 
only,  and  as  an '  address.'  *  Mind  that,'  he  said, '  or  you'll 
ruin  me.'  When  I  came  into  the  church  I  was  struck 
with  the  number  of  men  present.  They  probably  thought 
they  were  to  hear  about  fungi.  They  did  hear  an  address 
which  has  gone  the  world  over — '  The  greatest  thing  in 
the  world.' " 

Nor  was  Drummond  any  more  easily  secured  for  big 
social  functions  or  mass  meetings.  As  Mr.  Eoss  has 
said,  he  loved  to  lived  in  the  shade.     "  He  had  a  power 


58  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

of  brilliant  talk,  a  perfection  of  social  manner,  and  a  wide 
knowledge  of  men  and  cities,  that,  had  he  cared,  would 
have  made  him  the  man  at  the  dinner-table ;  but  his 
modesty  forbade  him  to  seek  to  shine.  .  .  .  He  was  in 
demand  as  a  speaker  or  chairman  at  public  meetings,  to 
draw  an  audience ;  but,  unless  he  had  some  special 
message  he  wished  to  deliver,  he  declined  such  requests, 
and  would  go  off,  instead,  to  some  little  meeting  in  an 
obscure  hall,  to  encourage  a  down-hearted  worker.  But 
if  he  avoided  the  public  platform,  where  he  felt  no  special 
call  to  speak,  he  loved  to  be  in  touch  with  the  life  of  the 
people.  Often  he  would  slink  away  of  a  Saturday  after- 
noon to  some  football  field  in  the  East  End,  where  he 
could  find  himself  (to  use  one  of  his  own  picturesque 
phrases) '  the  only  man  with  a  collar  in  the  whole  crowd.' 
He  cared  as  little  for  great  ecclesiastical  as  for  great 
social  functions,  but  his  friends  could  count  upon  him 
turning  up  at  odd  functions  in  the  underground  life  of 
the  people." 

He  had  entered  the  membership  of  the  Eenfield  Free 
Church — then  ministered  to  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Marcus 
Dods  —  and  had  been  ordained  an  elder.  Upon  his 
return  from  Malta,  in  the  summer  of  1878,  he  appealed 
to  Dr.  Dods  for  a  sphere  in  which  he  might  carry  on  the 
work  of  evangelism.  "  I  want  a  quiet  mission  some- 
where," he  said,  "  entry  immediate,  and  self-contained,  if 
possible.  Do  you  know  of  such  a  place  ? "  Dr.  Dods 
introduced  him  to  a  mission-station  in  the  working-class 
suburb  of  Possilpark,  in  the  north  of  Glasgow,  and 
appointed  him  missionary  in  charge.  This  became  the 
principal  field  of  his  activity.  From  the  month  of 
September  1878  onwards,  he  lived  and  worked  among 
the  people  of  this  district,  conducting  religious  services 
for  adults  and  for  children,  classes,  prayer-meetings,  and 
all  the  usual  agencies  of  a  home-mission  organisation, 


EVANGELISM  IN  GLASGOW  59 

including  the  visitation  of  the  sick  and  poor.  He 
had  hardly  settled  to  the  work  when  the  period  of 
commercial  disaster  which  followed  upon  the  failure 
of  the  City  of  Glasgow  Bank  brought  numbers  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Possilpark  district  into  dire  and 
distressing  poverty.  He  was  able  to  be  of  much  use  in 
administering  relief  to  many,  and  in  this  way  he  secured 
an  entrance  to  homes  that  might  have  otherwise  remained 
shut  to  him.  Mr,  Eoss  narrates  an  incident  illustrative 
of  the  hold  which  Drummond  got  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  A  woman  whose  husband  was  dying  came  to 
Drummond  late  on  a  Saturday  evening,  and  asked  him  to 
come  to  the  house  :  "My  husband  is  deein',  sir;  he's  no'  able 
to  speak  to  you,  and  he's  no'  able  to  hear  you,  but  I  would 
like  him  to  hae  a  breath  o'  you  aboot  him  afore  he  dees." 

Drummond  held  that  "the  crime  of  evangelism  is 
laziness ;  and  the  failure  of  the  average  mission  church 
to  reach  intelligent  working-men  arises  from  the  indolent 
reiteration  of  threadbare  formulae  by  teachers,  often 
competent  enough,  who  have  not  first  learned  to  respect 
their  hearers."  He  gave  the  people  of  his  best,  and  the 
work  at  Possilpark  prospered  well.  In  1881  it  was 
reported  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church 
that,  in  a  district  of  which  the  population  was  about 
5000,  there  had  been  erected  a  church  building  capable 
of  seating  800  persons,  and  that  there  were  177 
members  and  125  adherents  in  attendance  upon  divine 
worship.  On  31st  May  the  Assembly  sanctioned  the 
erection  of  this  congregation  into  a  regular  charge ;  and, 
after  an  ordained  minister  had  been  settled  in  the 
pastorate,  Drummond  was  free  to  look  around  for  other 
spheres  for  evangelism. 

If  Drummond  did  much  for  Possilpark,  it  also  was  a 
factor  in  the  development  of  its  missionary.  Later  on, 
reference  will  require  to  be  made  to  the  influence  which 


6o  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

it  had  upon  his  religious  thought ;  but  we  may  refer 
here  to  the  benefit  which  he  derived  from  the  intimate 
friendship  with  Dr.  Dods  into  which  it  drew  him. 
Speaking  in  April  1889, upon  the  occasion  of  Dr.  Dods's 
semi-jubilee,  Professor  Drummond  said :  "  Whatever  the 
discovery  was  worth,  Dr.  Dods  discovered  me.  I  came 
to  Glasgow  a  waif  and  a  stray,  living  alone  in  rooms, 
knowing  not  a  man  in  the  place.  I  did  not  know  Dr. 
Dods.  One  day  he  asked  me  to  dinner,  the  first  time  I 
had  been  asked  to  dinner  in  Glasgow.  I  need  not  say  I 
went.  From  that  time  I  can  claim  him  not  only  as  a  friend 
and  elder  brother,  but  as  the  greatest  influence  in  many 
directions  that  has  ever  come  across  my  life,  and  that,  if 
I  have  done  anything  in  my  poor  way  to  help  anybody 
else,  it  has  been  largely  owing  to  what  he  has  done,  and 
mainly  by  his  own  grand  character,  to  help  me."  Allow- 
ing for  innocent  hyperbolism,  which  the  occasion  justified, 
here  is  undoubted  acknowledgment  of  benefit  surely 
received, 

Drummond  never  again  settled  into  any  piece  of  work 
in  Glasgow  so  all  -  absorbing  as  Possilpark  had  been. 
This  was,  perhaps,  a  good  thing.  Neither  did  his 
enthusiasm  slacken,  nor  was  his  time  less  devoted  to  the 
great  cause ;  but  he  was  more  at  liberty  to  give  his  skill 
in  aid  of  numerous  organisations  which  sought  the  same 
grand  objective.  He  always  had  a  talent  for  dis- 
covering weak  spots,  and  for  guiding  and  stimulating 
the  enthusiasm  and  work  of  other  men.  It  would 
probably  be  impossible  to  ascertain  with  exactness 
anything  like  the  sum-total  of  his  work  in  Glasgow  of 
this  nature. 

We  shall  show  in  a  later  chapter  how  he  gave  him- 
self unsparingly  to  the  furtherance  of  the  Boys'  Brigade, 
an  institution  indigenous  to  Glasgow.  There  is  a  slum 
mission  at  the  Broomielaw  of  Glasgow  which  was  re- 


EVANGELISM  IN  GLASGOW  6i 

suscitated  by  his  influence,  this  time  exerted  upon  the 
students  of  his  College  class,  whom  he  asked  to  go  down 
to  the  district  and  to  make  a  conscience  of  visiting  the 
people  in  particular  closes.  The  mission  was  benefited, 
and  the  students  "  learned  the  lesson  of  the  importance 
of  trying  to  understand  the  economic  conditions  of  the 
time,  instead  of  taking  refuge  in  denunciation."  We 
know,  further,  that  when  the  men  in  the  employment  of 
a  particular  Glasgow  firm  of  printers  came  out  on  strike, 
upon  a  quarrel  as  to  breach  of  trade  rules,  Drummond 
was  appointed  sole  arbiter,  and  adjusted  the  matter  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all  parties. 

In  Glasgow,  too,  the  illness  which  proved  to  be  his 
first  and  his  last,  came  upon  him  just  when  he  was 
about  to  throw  himself  into  the  cultivation  in  that  city 
of  a  seedling  of  the  modern  evangelistic  organisation 
called  the  "  Pleasant  Sunday  Afternoon "  movement. 
He  had  been  for  a  number  of  years  a  director  of  the 
Canal  Boatmen's  Friendly  Society  of  Scotland ;  and,  in 
conjunction  with  Bailie  Bilsland,  had  made  represent- 
ations to  his  fellow  -  directors  in  favour  of  the  greater 
utilisation  of  their  commodious  institute  at  Port-Dundas 
(the  terminus  of  the  Forth  and  Clyde  Union  Canal)  by 
adoption  of  the  P.S.A.  scheme.  At  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Society  in  January  1895,  he  had  secured  approval 
of  proposals  for  an  experimental  adventure.  He  had 
framed  a  circular  for  distribution  in  the  district, — 
addressed  to  the  men  of  Port-Dundas  who  did  not  go 
to  church,  and  were  "  anxious  to  have  something  interest- 
ing to  do  on  Sunday  afternoons."  He  had  seen  "  The 
Port-Dundas  P.S.A.  Society  "  fairly  inaugurated,  and  had 
accepted  the  office  of  President,  when  sickness  laid  its 
hand  upon  him,  and  his  evangelism  in  Glasgow  was 
brought  abruptly  to  an  end. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Moody's  Second  Campaign. 

IN  response  to  a  widely  -  signed,  representative,  and 
influential  appeal,  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey 
entered  upon  a  second  campaign  in  Great  Britain  in  the 
autumn  of  the  year  1881.  Landing  in  this  country  in 
the  month  of  October  in  that  year,  they  were  con- 
tinuously engaged,  until  the  month  of  June  1884,  in 
revisiting  the  centres  in  which  their  first  campaign  had 
been  the  occasion  for  a  revival  of  religious  life  and 
enthusiasm  —  with  one  short  break,  extending  from 
April  until  October  1883,  in  which  Mr.  Moody  took 
time  for  a  hurried  visit  to  America. 

The  evangelists  began  work  in  Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
then  spent  six  weeks  in  Edinburgh,  and,  after  that,  five 
months  in  Glasgow. 

In  consequence  of  his  professional  duties,  it  was  not 
until  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  reached  Glasgow  that 
Drummond  was  able  to  take  any  part  in  the  campaign ; 
but,  when  they  did  arrive,  he  threw  himself  heart  and 
soul  into  the  work.  "  In  this  city,"  says  Mr.  Moody's 
biographer,  "  Professor  Henry  Drummond  again  assisted 
Mr.  Moody  in  his  work,  and  the  friendship  begun  during 
the  earlier  visit  became  more  deeply  rooted.  Saturday, 
which  Mr.  Moody  observed  as  his  day  of  rest,  was 
usually  spent  with  his  family,  and  Drummond  was 
often  a   welcome    addition    to    the    small    circle.     Mr. 

62 


MOODY'S  SECOND  CAMPAIGN  63 

Moody  would  turn  continually  to  him  in  these  days  for 
advice  and  fellowship,  and  their  attachment  deepened 
into  the  warmest  love."  Drummond  gave  special 
attention  to  his  own  district  of  Possilpark  at  this  time, 
and  had  the  gratification  of  seeing  Moody  reap  the  field 
which  he  had  cultivated  so  long  and  so  assiduously. 

When  the  work  in  Glasgow  came  to  a  close, 
Drummond's  College  vacation  had  commenced ;  and, 
upon  Moody's  invitation,  he  spent  the  best  part  of  it 
in  company  with  the  evangelists,  or  in  following  in  their 
wake.  His  itinerary  is  not  uninteresting,  especially  in 
the  glimpses  which  it  affords  of  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment which  he  had  reached,  in  his  quest  of  the  New 
Evangelism. 

In  August  he  accompanied  Moody  to  Aberdeen,  and 
there  he  remained  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stebbins,  the 
American  singing  evangelists,  to  follow  up  the  work, 
and  continue  the  meetings.  Mr.  Shireffs,  the  able  and 
earnest  secretary  of  the  Aberdeen  Y.M.C.A.,  reported  of 
the  meetings  at  the  time :  "  The  work  has  been  kept 
up  with  much  interest  and  profit  by  Professor  Henry 
Drummond,  of  Glasgow.  The  Divine  leading  in  this 
matter  has  been  most  evident  to  us  all.  The  quiet, 
clear,  direct,  spiritual  teaching  seemed  to  come  in  so 
opportunely,  and  to  lead  to  decision,  and  to  impart 
strength  and  firmness  in  very  many  instances.  The  last 
meeting  was  crowded." 

From  Aberdeen,  Drummond  went  to  Dundee,  and 
thence  to  Dumfries.  Note  has  been  preserved  of  several 
of  his  addresses  at  the  last  -  mentioned  place.  "  Mr. 
Drummond  spoke  impressively  on  *  The  Three  Crosses.' 
On  Calvary  we  had  the  cross  of  Salvation,  the  cross  of 
Acceptance,  and  the  cross  of  Eejection."  At  another 
meeting  he  spoke  on  the  words  "  Seek  ye  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God."     At  a  crowded  meeting  in  the  Free 


64  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Church,  his  subject  was  "  Temptation,"  which  he  treated 
"  in  a  very  original  and  distinctive  manner."  We  also 
learn  of  addresses  on  "  The  Programme  of  Christianity," 
as  given  in  Isa.  Ixi.  1-3  ;  and  "  a  marvellous  address 
on  '  Love,'  from  1  Cor.  xiii."  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
Dumfries  meetings  it  was  reported  that  "Mr.  Drummond's 
visit  at  this  time  has  been  largely  blessed,  one  of  the 
most  precious  results  being  in  the  spirit  of  quickening 
received  by  God's  people." 

We  next  hear  of  his  being  at  Cardiff,  in  Wales,  taking 
"  overflow "  meetings,  and  special  services  for  children 
and  for  young  men,  every  day.  At  Newport,  he  again 
addressed  the  young  men.  "  They  as  young  men,"  he 
is  reported  to  have  said,  "  had  special  difficulties  about 
religion,  and  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  had  wanted 
them  to  compare  notes.  .  .  .  One  reason  why  young 
men  were  kept  back  from  religion  was  that  they  did  not 
believe  in  some  professing  Christians  whom  they  knew. 
That  want  of  faith  might  often  be  justified ;  but  the  life 
of  any  Christian  person  or  professor  was  not  the  standard. 
Jesus  Christ  alone  was  the  standard.  Another  reason 
was  that  they  did  not  want  to  begin  the  thing,  unless 
they  could  carry  it  through,  and  they  feared  they  would 
fail  in  this.  St.  Paul  met  that  difficulty  when  he  said, 
'  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.'  The  great 
stumbling-block,  after  all,  was  sin.  '  Being  saved,'  for 
such,  meant,  to  a  large  extent,  giving  up  that  sin.  He 
begged  them  to  be  true  to  their  Bible  and  their  mothers' 
God." 

In  Plymouth  he  conducted  special  night  services  for 
children,  and   then   the  commencement  of  his  College 


MOODY'S  SECOND  CAMPAIGN  65 

session  in  Glasgow  put  a  period  to  his  accompanying  his 
friends  any  farther.  As  soon  as  the  next  vacation  set 
in  he  started  for  the  African  travels  to  which  we  shall 
refer  in  an  early  chapter.  These  detained  him  abroad 
until  the  end  of  April  1884.  Arriving  in  this  country 
at  that  date,  he  was  in  time  for  the  closing  weeks  of 
the  eight-months'  mission  in  London  with  which  the 
evangelists  terminated  their  campaign,  and  into  this  he 
threw  himself  with  all  his  old  enthusiasm  for  evangelism, 
standing  by  his  friends  to  the  very  last. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  "World." 

SOME  people  stumble  upon  fame  in  the  most  un- 
looked-for manner,  and  of  no  man  could  this  be 
said  more  truly  than  of  Drummond.  We  owe  it  almost 
to  an  accident  that  he  was  drawn  into  the  literary 
expression  of  his  epoch-making  ideas  concerning  the 
inter-relation  of  Physical  Science  and  Christianity ;  as 
he,  in  turn,  almost  owed  to  that  expression  the  "  crystal- 
lisation "  of  his  distinctive  theories  upon  the  subject. 
Prior  to  the  year  1881,  he  had  never  done  any  literary 
work,  if  we  except  the  boyish  essays  for  the  Stirling 
Observer,  already  mentioned.  He  has  told  us  himself 
that  he  never  would  have  dreamed  of  writing  a  book, 
but  that  upon  the  second  application  of  "  the  unknown 
editor  of  an  unknown  London  periodical "  he  had 
unearthed  and  forwarded  to  him  the  MSS.  of  several 
of  his  addresses  to  his  Possilpark  congregation.  These 
the  Eev.  Joseph  Exell,  editor  of  the  Clerical  World,  had 
the  discrimination  to  accept  and  print. 

Five  papers,  in  all,  under  the  general  heading  of 
"  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,"  were  published 
in  the  journal  named,  in  a  column  entitled  "  The  Home 
Pulpit."  The  first,  "Degeneration — 'If  we  Neglect,'" 
appeared  on  28  th  September  1881  ;  the  second, 
"Biogenesis,"  on  30th  November  1881;  the  third, 
"Nature  abhors  a  Vacuum,"  on   23rd  February  1882; 

66 


"NATURAL  LAW  IN  SPIRITUAL  WORLD"     67 

the  fourth,  "  Parasitism,"  on  24th  May  1882;  and  the 
last,  a  continuation  of  "Parasitism,"  on  28th  June 
1882.  To  give  continuity  to  the  series,  Drummond 
furnished  the  editor  with  the  phrase  "  Natural  Law  in 
the  Spiritual  World  "  without  much  thought  as  to  what 
the  title  actually  meant.  As  we  shall  see,  the  under- 
lying "  principle "  asserted  itself  in  Drummond's  mind 
when  he  brought  the  papers  together. 

When  he  came  to  arrange  the  papers  for  publication 
in  book  form,  the  third — "  Nature  abhors  a  Vacuum  " — 
was  thrown  out,  manifestly  because  it  would  not,  even 
to  appearance,  bear  the  strain  of  the  principle  which 
Drummond  believed  he  had  discovered.  The  paper  is,  how- 
ever, an  interesting  one,  and  some  representative  passages 
from  it  may  be  given  here,  as  it  has  never  been  reprinted, 
so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain.  It  bears,  as  an 
appropriate  sub-heading,  the  Scripture  text — "  Be  not 
drunk  with  wine,  .  .  .  but  be  filled  with  the  Spirit." 

"...  The  spiritual  forces,  the  pressure  of  the  rival 
atmospheres  of  good  and  evil  upon  the  human  soul,  may 
indeed  be  likened  to  natural  forces;  but  the  organic 
world  is  not  to  be  discussed  in  terms  of  the  inorganic. 
We  do  not  expect  Physics,  that  is  to  say,  to  yield  us 
the  same  analogies  of  law  between  the  natural  and  the 
spiritual  as  biology.  One  day  men  may  be  able  to  see  a 
scientific  meaning  in  the  attractive  principle  of  love,  or 
mean  more  than  metaphor  when  they  talk  of  the  gravita- 
tion of  sin,  but  Physics  for  the  present  reigns  prominently 
only  in  the  inorganic.  It  reigns  as  truly,  though  incon- 
spicuously, in  the  organic.  But  in  the  spiritual  it 
remains  invisible — whether  its  action  be  as  real  or  not 
no  man  can  tell. 

"  We  claim  the  title,  nevertheless,  to  press  the  analogy 
of  the  general  principle.       And  the   proposition  to  bo 


68  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

illustrated  is  this : — Just  as  by  the  constitution  of 
Nature  there  is  no  possibility  of  emptiness  anywhere 
in  earth,  or  sea,  or  air,  so  by  the  constitution  of  human 
nature  there  is  no  possibility  of  emptiness  in  the  soul 
of  man.  The  spiritual  nature  abhors  a  vacuum.  A 
thousand  influences,  some  beneficent,  some  malign, 
surround  every  human  life.  Within  each  life  there 
is  capacity  for  a  certain  amount  of  these  influences, 
and  with  that  certain  amount  each  life  by  its  constitu- 
tion must  be  filled.  There  may  be  expansion  or  con- 
traction in  the  capacity  for  evil  or  for  good ;  there 
may  be  dislodgment,  good  replacing  evil  or  evil  good ; 
but  vacuum  there  cannot  be.  Nature  abhors  it.  And 
the  practical  effect  is  plain.  If  a  man  will  not  let 
good  into  his  life,  evil  will  and  must  possess  it.  If 
he  would  eject  evil  from  his  life,  he  can  only  do  so 
by  letting  good  into  it.  .  .  .  If  the  soul  does  not 
choose  its  own  content,  Nature  will.  In  her  abhorrence 
of  vacuum  she  will  thrust  elements  into  it  by  force, 
and  she  will  choose  just  such  elements  as  may  be  at 
hand,  whether  they  may  be  good  or  bad.  Her  concern 
is  simply  to  keep  the  soul  filled — the  individual's  concern 
is  to  keep  the  soul  rightly  filled.  Nature  secures  her 
part  of  the  process — the  irresponsible  part — with  such 
infallible  certainty  that  we  are  deceived  by  the  very 
perfection  of  the  law.  The  noiselessness  of  its  working 
hides  from  us  its  vast  importance.  We  come  to  leave 
the  quality  to  Nature  as  well  as  the  quantity.  We 
let  circumstances  take  their  course.  We  permit  the 
interests  of  life  to  absorb  us  in  turn,  all  and  sundry 
as  they  come  up.  We  allow  temptation  to  come  and 
go  at  pleasure,  and  one  day  the  soul  wakes  up  to 
find  itself  possessed  with  all  manner  of  evil.  Its 
great  chambers  have,  quite  insensibly,  become  distended 
with  foul  and  deadly  gases.     It  exhales  sin  rather  than 


"NATURAL  LAW  IN  SPIRITUAL  WORLD"     69 

righteousness.  .  .  .  Most  men  forget  that  what  they 
allow  to  enter  the  soul  is  of  as  grave  importance  as 
what  emerges  from  it.  So  long  as  good  is  the  outcome 
from  a  man's  life,  he  is  deceived  into  the  belief  that 
all  within  is  good.  His  responsibility  he  imagines  is 
for  the  efflux,  not  for  the  influx.  And  it  is  often  not 
until  the  stream  of  life  runs  out,  foul  and  turgid,  that 
he  remembers  what  flecks  of  scum  dropped  into  the 
cistern  days  or  years  ago.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
an  unrelated  sin  in  any  life.  The  great  fall  which 
suddenly  stains  the  reputation  of  a  public  name,  and 
which  the  world's  charity  glosses  over  as  merely  a 
sudden  slip,  is  never  the  first  of  a  series  but  the 
last.  It  is  the  last  of  a  long  line  of  private  sins 
which  did  not  seem  sins,  perhaps  because  they  did 
not  see  the  light.  But  sin  begins  in  the  vacuum 
chambers  of  the  soul.  The  wrong  valves  are  allowed 
to  open  when  the  soul  grows  empty,  and  the  heart  is 
slowly  flooded  with  vileness  and  pollution." 

At  first  sight  it  appears  somewhat  strange  that  the 
Clerical  World  papers,  which  afterwards  formed  several 
of  the  most  striking  chapters  of  a  book  that  took  the 
religious  world  by  storm,  should  actually  have  appeared 
in  print,  years  before,  without  provoking  the  slightest 
comment.  But  this  may  be  attributed,  in  great  measure, 
to  the  vehicle  of  their  publication.  The  Clerical  World, 
"  A  Paper  for  the  Pulpit  and  the  Pew,"  first  published — 
by  Messrs.  Hodder  &  Stoughton — on  28th  September 
1881,  seems  to  have  had  a  poor  circulation  and  an  incon- 
spicuous career.  In  September  1882  it  became  the  Clerical 
World  and  Family  Churchman,and  a  month  later  it  dropped 
the  original  title  altogether, and  became  the  Family  Church- 
man. In  April  1883  it  changed  its  publishers,  and  con- 
tinued in  existence  until  quite  a  recent  date. 


70  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

The  revision  of  the  Natural  Law  papers  for  the  press 
would  seem  to  have  first  suggested  to  Drummond  that 
there  was  more  in  his  title  for  the  group  than  he  had 
thought.  "As  it  is  when  arranging  his  specimens  for 
the  museum,"  he  afterwards  wrote,  "  the  naturalist 
really  awakens  to  their  affinities,  and  sees  the  laws  which 
group  them,  so,  in  arranging  my  little  collection  of 
manuscripts,  I  saw  for  the  first  time,  with  any  clearness, 
the  mysterious  thread  which  bound  them."  He  enter- 
tained, with  considerable  confidence,  the  suggestion 
which  had  come  into  his  mind,  when  he  recognised 
the  spontaneous  manner  in  which  it  had  emerged. 
"  So  varied  is  Nature,  and  so  many-sided  is  Truth, 
that  when  anyone  starts  with  a  theory,  be  it  the  most 
stupendous  castle-in-the-air,  and  proceeds  to  support  it 
by  making  a  collection  of  supposed  practical  applica- 
tions, he  will  find  innumerable  things  to  favour  his 
hypothesis." 

To  put  his  new-found  theory  to  the  test,  Drummond 
wrote  out  a  rough  sketch  of  the  paper  which  after- 
wards formed  the  Introduction  to  Natural  Law,  and, 
in  January  1882,  submitted  it  to  a  meeting  of  the 
Glasgow  Theological  Club,  a  society  of  select  and 
limited  membership,  which  met  periodically  for  dis- 
cussion of  theological  and  cognate  subjects.  He  read 
his  paper  with  trepidation.  But  for  one  dissentient 
voice,  its  condemnation  was  unanimous.  One  candid 
friend — possibly  the  late  Dr.  A.  B.  Bruce,  someone 
has  suggested — said  that  it  reminded  him  of  a  pamphlet 
he  had  once  picked  up,  entitled,  "  Forty  reasons  for  the 
identification  of  the  English  people  with  the  Lost  Ten 
Tribes." 

The  next  group  of  circumstances  offering  promise  of 
development  in  the  situation,  was  initiated  by  a  request 
from  Mr.  Newman,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 


«« NATURAL  LAW  IN  SPIRITUAL  WORLD"     71 

for  permission  to  print  the  first  of  the  Clerical  World 
papers,  at  the  printing  press  of  an  Orphanage  at 
Leominster.  Permission  was  accorded,  and  presently 
letters  dropped  in  from  unknown  correspondents  in- 
forming Drummond  of  light  and  leading  received  from 
a  perusal  of  the  Orphanage  reprint.  This  unsolicited 
testimony  decided  him  to  attempt  the  publication  of 
the  complete  series  in  book  form,  and  he  forwarded 
the  Introduction  and  several  of  the  Clerical  World 
papers  to  a  London  publisher.  In  three  weeks  the 
MS.  was  returned,  "  declined  with  thanks."  "  A  slight 
change  was  made,  a  second  application  to  another  well- 
known  London  house  attempted ;  and  again  the  docu- 
ment was  returned  with  the  same  mystic  legend — the 
gentlest  yet  most  inexorable  of  death-warrants — en- 
dorsed upon  its  back."  "  To  be  served  a  second  time 
with  the  Black  Seal  of  Literature  was  too  much  for 
me,"  continues  Drummond,  "and  the  doomed  sheets 
were  returned  to  their  pigeon-holes,  and  once  more 
forgotten."  The  Orphanage  pamphlet  had  led  our 
author  into  a  blind-alley.  To  cut  a  long  story  short, 
Drummond,  having  failed  to  find  a  publisher,  was 
found  by  one,  in  the  person  of  Mr.  M.  H.  Hodder. 
The  papers  were  overhauled  and  partly  rewritten,  and 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  as  a  concrete  whole, 
was  fairly  launched  in  the  book-world. 

It  may  now  be  taken  for  granted  that  there  are 
few  members  of  the  thoughtful  Christian  public  who 
have  not  made  the  acquaintance  of  Professor 
Drummond's  book,  and  any  mention  of  its  contents 
need,  in  this  place,  only  be  of  the  slightest  character. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  volume  contains  eleven  papers, 
of  differing  interest,  and  with  little  co-relation — all, 
originally,  addresses  delivered  by  Drummond  to  his 
audiences  of  working  men  at  Possilpark,  in  no  studied 


72  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

sequence.  They  deal  with  different  aspects  of  the 
philosophy  of  spiritual  life,  spiritual  disease,  and 
spiritual  death ;  they  are  rich  in  epigram,  and  in 
illuminative  illustration  from  the  fields  of  biological 
research ;  and  they  are  written  in  a  style  of  literary 
English  which  is  almost  uniformly  of  a  high  quality. 
The  Introduction,  as  we  have  seen,  and  the  Preface, 
were  not  written  for  consumption  at  Possilpark.  They 
deal  almost  exclusively  with  Drummond's  reasons  for 
suggesting  that  Natural  Law  and  Spiritual  Law  are 
one  and  the  same — that  the  laws  which  govern  the 
lower  forms  of  life  are  identical  with  the  laws  that 
govern  the  spiritual  life  of  the  human  species.  Beyond 
demonstrating  the  facility  with  which  the  terminology 
of  biological  science  had  lent  itself  to  the  preacher 
of  the  Christian  evangel,  the  Possilpark  papers  are  not 
involved  in  the  argument  of  Drummond's  introductory 
thesis. 

The  book  appeared  in  July  1883,  and  it  got  a 
splendid  send-off  in  a  long  and  appreciative  review  in 
the  Spectator  of  4th  August.  Of  this  article  Drummond 
afterwards  wrote  that  there  was  "  criticism  enough  in 
it  certainly  to  make  one  serious,  but  [criticism]  written 
with  that  marvellous  generosity  and  indulgence  to  an 
unknown  author  for  which  the  Spectator  stands  supreme 
in  journalism.  .  .  .  Why  any  critic  should  have  risked 
his  own  reputation  by  speaking  with  such  emphasis  of 
the  work  of  a  new  and  unpractised  hand,  remains  to 
me  among  the  mysteries  of  literary  unselfishness." 
While  the  Spectator  did  not,  by  any  means,  accept 
Drummond's  thesis  in  its  entirety,  it  characterised  the 
volume  as  "  one  of  the  most  impressive  and  suggestive 
books  we  have  read  for  a  long  time.  Indeed,  with  the 
exception  of  Dr.  Mozley's  University  Sermons,  we  can 
recall  no  book  of  our  time  which  showed  such  power  of 


*' NATURAL  LAW  IN  SPIRITUAL  WORLD"    73 

restating  the  moral  and  practical  truths  of  religion,  so 
as  to  make  them  take  fresh  hold  of  the  mind,  and 
vividly  impress  the  imagination."  It  hailed  Drummond 
as  "  a  new  and  powerful  teacher,  impressive  both  from 
the  scientific  calmness  and  accuracy  of  his  view  of  law, 
and  from  the  deep  religious  earnestness  with  which  he 
traces  the  workings  of  law  in  the  moral  and  spiritual 
sphere." 

It  is  stated  above,  upon  the  authority  of  Drummond 
himself,  that  Natural  Law  appeared  in  July  1883,  but 
a  writer  in  the  Academy,  who  would  seem  to  have  had 
access  to  the  publisher's  books,  indicates  that  a  first 
impression  of  one  thousand  copies  was  printed  and 
issued  in  the  month  of  April ;  a  second  edition,  of  one 
thousand,  not  being  called  for  until  July.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  the  Spectator  review  really  introduced  the  book  to 
the  public,  and  after  its  appearance  the  sales  went  up 
by  leaps  and  bounds.  At  the  beginning  of  September 
another  thousand  copies  were  printed ;  in  October,  two 
thousand;  in  November,  two  thousand;  and  so  on. 
The  original  edition  had  been  sold  at  seven  shillings  and 
sixpence;  but  in  March  1887  a  cheaper  edition  was 
issued  at  three  shillings  and  sixpence;  after  51,000 
copies  had  been  sold  at  the  first-mentioned  figure.  At 
the  time  of  Professor  Drummond's  death  it  was  in  its 
Thirty-second  Edition,  completing  119,000  copies,  and 
it  had  been  translated  into  French,  German,  Dutch, 
and  Norwegian.  "  The  American  and  foreign  editions 
are  beyond  count."  This  was  indeed  strange  fortune 
for  a  volume  concerning  which  the  author  wrote  to  its 
publisher,  before  its  publication,  to  the  effect  that  he 
was  encouraged  to  think  the  enterprise  might  not  be  a 
source  of  loss,  both  because  he  believed  his  extensive 
acquaintance  might  be  taken  as  a  guarantee  for  the  sale 
of   a   thousand  copies,  and  because   he   had  even  been 


74  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

offered  the  sum  of  £40  for  the  exclusive  copyright  of 
the  Clerical  World  articles  ! 

It  remains  for  us  to  refer  briefly  to  the  phenomenal 
flood  of  criticism  of  which  Natural  Law  was  the  occasion 
and  the  object.  It  is  not  within  the  province  of  a 
biographer  to  canvass  the  opinions  and  beliefs  of  the 
subject  of  his  memoir,  but  he  is  not  precluded  from 
indicating  the  extent  and  influence  of  the  criticism  to 
which  these  may  have  been  subjected ;  indeed  he  may 
reasonably  be  expected  to  afford  this  information. 
Among  the  bibliographical  notes  appended  to  this 
volume  there  will  be  found  a  list  of  no  fewer  than 
twenty-one  books  and  pamphlets  in  the  English  language 
which  were  published  in  criticism  of  the  teaching  con- 
tained in  Natural  Law,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
there  may  be  others  that  have  not  been  traced.  A 
number  of  these  appeared  in  a  list  which  Professor 
Drummond  drew  up  in  1887,  and,  where  the  present 
writer  has  not  been  able  to  lay  his  hands  upon  these 
books  themselves,  he  has  contented  himself  with  im- 
porting the  limited  bibliographical  information  furnished 
in  that  list. 

As  might  be  supposed,  these  books  and  pamphlets, 
and  the  innumerable  reviews  and  criticisms  which  have 
appeared  in  the  periodical  press,  vary  much  in  tone  and 
tune.  Of  course,  the  critics  who  considered  that  the 
gravity  of  the  situation  demanded  a  wide  circulation  of 
their  corrective  comments  have  almost  exclusive  posses- 
sion of  the  list  of  books  and  pamphlets ;  but,  as  Dr. 
Stalker  has  wittily  said, — "The  public  found  out  the 
book  for  itself,  by  an  instinct  it  now  and  then  reveals ; 
and  the  critics,  arriving  late,  have  had  to  criticise  their 
own  constituents,  as  well  as  the  author." 

The  majority  of  the  pamphleteers  take  an  obscurantist 
view  of  the  situation,  or  disparage  the  author's  capacity 


"NATURAL  LAW  IN  SPIRITUAL  WORLD"     75 

for  his  task.  "  Mr.  Drummond  has  written  throughout 
in  simple  and  even  genial  ignorance  of  the  great  subject," 
says  one.  "  Nothing  is  more  to  be  resisted  than  an 
attempt  to  bridge  over  the  gulf  which  separates,  and 
will  separate  for  ever  and  ever.  Evangelical  from 
Philosophical  Christianity,"  says  another.  "  This  is 
monstrous,"  says  a  third.  Mr.  E.  A.  Watson  calls 
attention  to  difficulties,  chasms,  pitfalls — "  temporarily 
bridged  over,  or  skilfully  avoided."  Another  suggests 
that  the  book  has  had  an  immense  circulation  "  because 
it  professes  to  do  what  multitudes  are  anxious  to  see 
done — to  reconcile  science  and  religion."  A  pamphlet 
which  has  been  attributed  to  the  Eev.  Professor  Denney 
concludes  that  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World  is 
"a  book  that  no  lover  of  men  will  call  religious,  and 
no  student  of  theology  scientific."  "  A  stone  projffered 
in  place  of  bread,"  says  another. 

Drummond  seemed  to  take  all  this  very  coolly.  Of 
a  number  of  these  criticisms  he  wrote : — "  The  chief 
feeling  in  my  mind,  in  reading  these  replies  and  the 
many  other  reviews  which  have  appeared,  has  been  one 
of  surprise,  together  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  unworthi- 
ness  of  the  book  itself  for  eriticism  so  careful,  competent, 
and  respectful.  It  was  never  written  for  criticism,  but 
for  a  practical  purpose,  and  if  the  attentions  of  reviewers, 
whether  friendly  or  hostile,  have  helped  it  to  fulfil  its 
real  functions,  or,  by  qualifying  them,  helped  it  to  fulfil 
them  better,  I  can  only  be  grateful."  He  steadily 
declined  to  publish  a  reply  to  his  critics ;  but  it  is 
understood  that  the  "  Defence  "  written  by  the  Eev.  Dr. 
Stalker,  and  published  in  the  Expositor,  appeared  with 
Drummond's  approval. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Professor  Drummond  came 
to  doubt  the  validity  of  the  argument  in  his  book,  and 
was    not    much    interested    in    its    further    circulation. 


76  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Perhaps  the  most  authentic  information  we  can  get 
upon  the  subject  may  be  obtained  from  the  report  of 
an  interview  in  1892,  when  he  said: — ^"It  would  be 
immoral  and  unscientific  to  endeavour  to  bind  science 
to  religion.  I  may  have  put  a  pressure  upon  certain 
analogies  which  they  could  not  sustain.  I  would  write 
the  book  differently  now,  if  I  were  to  do  it  again.  I 
should  make  less  rigid  application  of  physical  laws,  and 
I  should  endeavour  to  be  more  ethical;  and  this  I  have 
stated  in  a  new  translation  of  the  book  in  Germany. 
But  it  is  still  clear  to  me  that  the  same  laws  govern  all 
worlds.  ...  I  have  never  been  able  to  see  that  law 
can  be  analogous.  Phenomena  are,  but  it  is  a  misuse 
of  words  to  say  that  law  can  be  so ;  it  is  philosophically 
incorrect.  ,  .  ,  It  is  either  the  same  or  a  different  law  " 


CHAPTER  X. 

In  Centeal  Afkica. 

CUEIOUSLY  enough,  circumstances  had  so  arranged 
themselves  that  news  of  the  gratifying  reception 
accorded  to  Natural  Law,  both  by  the  critics  and  the 
British  public,  did  not  reach  Drummond  until  months 
had  elapsed  since  the  date  of  publication.  Immediately 
after  seeing  the  sheets  of  his  book  through  the  press, 
he  had  left  the  country  upon  an  expedition  to  Central 
Africa.  He  had  penetrated  to  the  ISTyassa-Tanganyika 
plateau,  a  thousand  miles  from  the  nearest  post-office, 
and  had  seen  neither  letter  nor  newspaper  for  five 
months,  when,  as  he  has  told  us,  one  night  (in  the 
third  week  of  November),  an  hour  after  midnight,  his 
c^imp  was  suddenly  roused  by  the  apparition  of  three 
black  messengers — despatched  from  the  north  end  of 
Lake  Nyassa  by  a  friendly  white — with  the  hollow 
skin  of  a  tiger-cat  containing  a  small  packet  of  letters 
and  papers.  Lighting  the  lamp  in  his  tent,  he  read 
the  letters,  and  then  turned  over  the  newspapers. 
Among  them  was  a  copy  of  the  Spectator,  containing  the 
review  of  his  book.  As  he  once  told  the  present  writer, 
Drummond  did  not  realise  to  the  full  the  sensation  which 
Natural  Law  had  caused  until  his  return  home,  in  the 
following  year,  when  his  father,  who  had  preserved  the 
different  reviews  and  articles  as  they  appeared,  pro- 
duced his  collection  with  great  glee  and  parental  pride. 


78  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

His  mission  to  Africa  was  "  purely  scientific."  He  had 
accepted  a  commission  from  the  African  Lakes  Company 
to  make  a  botanical  and  geological  survey  of  the  Nyassa- 
Tanganyika  plateau,  and,  having  obtained  leave  of 
absence  from  the  College  authorities,  he  had  started 
from  London  on  21st  June   1883. 

Parenthetically  it  may  be  explained  that  the  African 
Lakes  Company — founded  in  1878 — has  for  its  object 
the  opening  up  and  development  of  the  regions  of  East 
Central  Africa,  from  the  Zambesi  to  Tanganyika.  It 
seeks  "  to  make  employments  for  the  native  peoples, 
to  trade  with  them  honestly,  to  keep  out  rum,  and, 
so  far  as  possible,  gunpowder  and  firearms,  and  to  co- 
operate with,  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  mission- 
aries." It  has  established  a  number  of  trading  stations, 
manned  by  a  staff  of  Europeans,  and  many  native  agents. 
It  has  steamers  on  the  Shir^  and  Lake  Nyassa.  It  has 
developed  the  industry  of  coffee-planting  in  the  interior, 
and  is  introducing  other  sources  of  commercial  pros- 
perity. "  It  has  acted,  to  some  extent,  as  a  check  upon 
the  slave-trade ;  it  has  prevented  inter  -  tribal  strife, 
and  helped  to  protect  the  missionaries  in  time  of  war." 
The  African  Lakes  Company,  in  short,  was,  for  a  good 
many  years,  "  the  sole  administering-hand  in  this  part 
of  Africa." 

In  due  course  Drummond  reached  Zanzibar,  to  find  in 
this  "  cesspool  of  wickedness  " — "  Oriental  in  its  appear- 
ance, Mohammedan  in  its  religion,  Arabian  in  its  morals  " 
— a  fit  capital  for  the  Dark  Continent.  From  Zanzibar 
he  travelled  by  steamer  to  Quilimane,  and  reached  the 
more  navigable  waters  of  the  Zambesi  by  a  canoe  voyage 
of  a  week  upon  the  Qua-Qua — "  one  long  picnic."  Steam- 
ing up  the  Zambesi,  he  had  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the 
solitary  spot  where  Dr.  Livingstone  was  bereft  of  his 
wife.     "  Late  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  the  spot — 


IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA  79 

a  low,  ruined  hut,  a  hundred  yards  from  the  river's  bank, 
with  a  broad  verandah  shading  its  crumbling  walls.  A 
grass-green  path  straggled  to  the  doorway,  and  the 
fresh  print  of  a  hippopotamus  told  how  neglected  the 
spot  is  now.  Pushing  the  door  open,  we  found  ourselves 
in  a  long  dark  room,  its  mud  floor  broken  into  fragments, 
and  remains  of  native  fires  betraying  its  latest  occupants. 
Turning  to  the  right,  we  entered  a  smaller  chamber,  bare 
and  stained,  with  two  glassless  windows  facing  the  river. 
The  evening  sun,  setting  over  the  far-off  Morumballa 
mountains,  filled  the  room  with  its  soft  glow,  and  took 
our  thoughts  back  to  that  Sunday  evening,  twenty  years 
ago,  when,  in  this  same  bedroom,  at  the  same  hour, 
Livingstone  knelt  over  his  dying  wife,  and  witnessed 
the  great  sunset  of  his  life." 

Farther  up  the  river,  the  tributary  Shir^  was  entered ; 
and,  after  some  days'  steaming  and  a  tramp  of  nearly 
forty  miles,  the  Blantyre  Mission  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland  was  reached.  While  at  Blantyre,  Drummond 
made  a  short  divagation  with  the  object  of  exploring 
Lake  Shirwa,  where  he  had  the  chance  opportunity  of 
seeing  a  slave  caravan,  and  some  of  its  horrors,  and  had 
the  distinction  of  being  to  many  of  the  natives  the  first 
white  man  they  had  ever  seen. 

Pushing  on,  he  traversed,  by  steamer,  the  upper 
reaches  of  the  Shire;  coasted  up  the  western  shores 
of  Lake  Nyassa  for  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles ; 
and  arrived  next  at  Bandawe,  the  headquarters  of  the 
Scottish  Livingstonia  Mission,  carried  on  by  an  able 
staff  of  missionaries  under  the  superintendence  of  Dr. 
Laws.  Evidently  he  had  not  yet  attained  to  that  easy 
familiarity  with  the  nude  which  may  be  inferred  from 
his  later  message  to  his  friend,  Dr.  John  Watson,  to  the 
effect  that,  at  the  time  of  writing,  he  had  "nothing 
on  but  a  helmet  and  three  mosquitoes."     At  Bandawe 


8o  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Sunday  services  he  was  a  little  surprised  to  find  the 
swarthy  worshippers  "  dressed  mostly  in  bows  and 
arrows."  But  he  afterwards  cherished  no  more  sacred 
memory  of  his  life  than  that  of  a  communion  service 
in  the  little  Bandawe  chapel  where  the  sacramental  cup 
was  handed  to  him  by  the  bare  black  arm  of  a  native 
communicant — "  a  communicant  whose  life,  tested  after- 
wards in  many  an  hour  of  trial  with  me  on  the  ■  Tan- 
ganyika plateau,  gave  him  perhaps  a  better  right  to  be 
there  than  any  of  us." 

At  Bandawe,  with  the  assistance  of  his  mission 
friends,  he  succeeded  in  enlisting  the  services  of 
twenty-eight  natives  for  the  personnel  of  his  caravan ; 
and  on  29  th  September,  at  Karongas,  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Nyassa,  after  covering  the  intervening  distance  of 
two  hundred  miles  by  steamer,  he  plunged  into  the 
Tanganyika  forest.  There  he  spent  the  following 
months  in  the  execution  of  his  commission,  moving 
from  camp  to  camp,  collecting  specimens, — geological, 
botanical,  and  entomological,  —  as  weU  as  making 
personal  acquamtance  with  all  the  romance  and  hard- 
ship of  the  explorer's  life,  including,  of  course,  African 
fever. 

Of  an  attack  of  African  fever,  he  has  given  us  the 
following  graphic  account : — "  It  is  preceded  for  weeks, 
or  even  for  a  month  or  two,  by  unaccountable  irritability, 
depression,  and  weariness.  On  the  march  with  his  men 
[the  traveller]  has  scarcely  started  when  he  sighs  for 
the  noonday  rest.  Putting  it  down  to  mere  laziness, 
he  goads  himself  on  by  draughts  from  the  water-bottle, 
and  totters  forward  a  mile  or  two  more.  Next  he 
finds  himself  skulking  into  the  forest  on  the  pretext  of 
looking  at  a  specimen,  and,  when  his  porters  are  out  of 
sight,  throws  himself  under  a  tree  in  utter  hmpness  and 
despair.     Eoused  by  mere  shame,  he  staggers  along  the 


IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA  8i 

trail,  and  as  he  neara  the  midday  camp  puts  on  a 
spurt  to  conceal  his  defeat,  which  finishes  him  for  the 
rest  of  the  day.  This  is  a  good  place  for  specimens  he 
tells  the  men — the  tent  may  be  pitched  for  the  night. 
This  goes  on  day  after  day  till  the  crash  comes — 
first  cold  and  pain,  and  every  degree  of  heat,  then 
delirium,  then  the  life-and-death  struggle.  He  rises,  if 
he  does  rise,  a  shadow ;  and  slowly  accumulates  strength 
for  the  next  attack,  which  he  knows  too  well  will  not 
disappoint  him." 

No  member  of  his  caravan  could  speak  English,  but 
master  and  men  had  sufficient  acquaintance  with  one  of 
the  Nyassa  dialects  to  enable  them  to  communicate  with 
one  another.  This  intercourse  helped  Drummond  to 
arrive  at  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  possible 
capabilities  of  the  African  native.  Two  of  his  personal 
servants,  Moolu  and  Jingo,  claimed  his  special  interest. 
The  following  passage  gives  his  estimate  of  Moolu. 

"  Held  the  usual  service  in  the  evening — a  piece  of 
very  primitive  Christianity.  Moolu,  who  had  learned 
much  from  Dr.  Laws,  undertook  the  sermon,  and 
discoursed  with  great  eloquence  on  the  Tower  of  Babel. 
The  preceding  Sunday  he  had  waxed  equally  warm  over 
the  Eich  Man  and  Lazarus ;  and  his  description  of  the 
Eich  Man  in  terms  of  native  ideas  of  wealth — '  plenty 
of  calico  and  plenty  of  beads '  —  was  a  thing  to 
remember.  '  Mission  blacks,'  in  Natal  and  at  the  Cape, 
are  a  byword  among  the  unsympathetic ;  but  I  never  saw 
Moolu  do  an  inconsistent  thing.  He  could  neither  read 
nor  write ;  he  knew  only  some  dozen  words  of  English ; 
until  seven  years  ago  he  had  never  seen  a  white  man ; 
but  I  could  trust  him  with  everything  I  had.  He  was 
not  '  pious ' ;  he  was  neither  bright  nor  clever ;  he  was 
a  commonplace  black ;  but  he  did  his  duty  and  never 
6 


82  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

told  a  lie.  The  first  night  of  our  camp,  after  all  had 
gone  to  rest,  I  remember  being  roused  by  a  low  talking. 
I  looked  out  of  my  tent ;  a  flood  of  moonlight  lit  up  the 
forest ;  and  there,  kneeling  upon  the  ground,  was  a  little 
group  of  natives,  and  Moolu  in  the  centre  conducting 
evening  prayers.  Every  night  afterwards  this  service 
was  repeated,  no  matter  how  long  the  march  was  nor 
how  tired  the  men.  I  make  no  comment.  But  this 
I  will  say — Moolu's  life  gave  him  the  right  to  do  it. 
Mission  reports  are  often  said  to  be  valueless ;  they  are 
less  so  than  anti-mission  reports.  I  believe  in  Missions, 
for  one  thing,  because  I  believe  in  Moolu." 

By  the  end  of  November,  Drummond  had  completed 
his  survey,  and  had  quitted  the  Tanganyika  forest. 
Between  attacks  of  fever,  he  retraced  his  steps  to  Bandawe, 
Blantyre,  and  Quilimane  in  turn,  reaching  the  last-named 
place  in  time  to  join  a  steamer  for  the  Cape  on  8  th 
February  1884.  On  the  7th  he  wrote  to  one  of  his 
friends  at  Nyassa : — "  My  days  in  this  '  funny  '  country 
are  all  but  done.  .  .  .  My  steamer  comes  in  to-morrow 
— the  DunJceld,  a  large,  splendid  vessel,  I  hear.  I 
return  bed,  and  by  Jingo  (not  swearing).  Jingo  is 
much  struck    with    everything    here,  but  wants    to  go 

back,  as  he  says,  to  Mr. 's  '  Donna.'     Jingo  is  a  great 

swell  now,  in  trousers,  etc.,  and  will  have  charge  of  the 
mailboat  up  the  Qua-Qua.  I  gave  him  a  temperance 
lecture  on  entering  Quilimane,  and  he  has  promised 
faithfully  never,  never  to  touch  anything  stronger  than 
pombe.  He  says  cuchasso  gives  him  frightful  pains, 
and  is  very  bad."  A  postscript  to  the  same  letter 
contains  the  announcement : — "  Deceased.  On  the 
Qua-Qua,  on  the  4th  inst.,  of  rupture  of  the  spout, 
Mrs.  's  teapot.      Deeply  regretted." 

Before  granting  Drummond  a  passport  to  leave  the 


IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA  83 

country,  the  Portuguese  authorities  at  Quilimane  wanted 
him  to  take  out  a  "  billet  of  residence,"  but,  as  this 
would  have  amounted  to  an  admission  that  Nyassa  was 
Portuguese  territory,  he  refused  point-blank.  "As  I 
have  plenty  time,"  he  wrote,  "  I  was  quite  prepared  to 
go  to  prison  rather  than  submit,  but  they  wisely  let  the 
matter  drop." 

He  returned  to  Britain  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
spending  some  weeks  in  Cape  Colony,  en  route,  and 
ultimately  reaching  home  in  the  beginning  of  April. 
As  we  have  already  seen,  he  at  once  threw  himself  into 
the  work  of  the  closing  weeks  of  Mr.  Moody's  campaign. 
He  also  spoke  at  the  Mildmay  May  meetings,  and  at 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 
On  both  of  these  occasions  African  missions  were  his 
theme.  At  the  Free  Church  Assembly  he  said  that 
"  what  had  impressed  him  most  in  Central  Africa 
was  that  the  apathy  at  home,  in  regard  to  missions, 
arose  from  a  want  of  imagination  —  from  a  want  of 
the  sense  that  the  thing  was  real.  .  .  .  They  had,  in 
fact,  in  regard  to  missions,  very  much  what  they  had 
in  regard  to  Faith.  They  had  a  dead  faith  about 
missions  in  heathen  lands,  and  a  living  faith.  What 
he  had  been  taught  by  these  months  of  wandering 
among  the  heathen  in  Africa  was  the  living  belief  that 
the  Africans  were  real  men,  that  the  missionary  was 
a  real  man,  and  that  there  was  a  real  work  to  be 
done."  In  both  addresses  he  referred  to  the  African 
Lakes  Company,  the  Livingstonia  Mission,  and  the 
Blantyre  Mission,  as  three  hands  stretched  out  from 
Britain  for  the  salvation  of  Central  Africa.  At  the 
Free  Church  Assembly  he  concluded  by  pointing  out  the 
cruelty  of  sending  out  a  single  man  to  a  place  the  lone- 
liness of  which  was  unutterable,  and  by  expressing  his 
opinion  that,  if  there  were  only  one  ordained  missionary 


84  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

at  a  station,  he  should  be  assisted  by  unordained  men, 
who  might  be  elders  or  deacons,  as  the  work,  for  the 
most  part,  was  like  teaching  infant  classes. 

Other  addresses,  to  audiences  of  churchmen  and  scien- 
tists and  laymen,  were  afterwards  dehvered  on  different 
occasions ;  and  these,  with  one  or  two  additional  papers, 
were  collected  and  published  in  1886,  in  the  volume 
entitled  Tropical  Africa.  Delightfully  written,  with  a 
statesmanlike  grasp  of  the  situation,  its  earlier  chapters 
are  well  calculated  to  stimulate  that  imagination  which 
he  desiderated  in  his  Assembly  addresses,  and  to  provoke 
an  intelligent  interest  in  what  is  surely  one  of  the  most 
needy  as  well  as  attractive  fields  for  Christian  altruism 
in  the  Dark  Continent. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Among  the  Uppee  Ten  Thousand. 

IN  strict  chronological  order,  the  next  great  scheme 
which  occupied  Drummond's  attention,  and  afforded 
scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  peculiar  gifts,  was  the  work 
among  University  students,  in  Edinburgh  and  elsewhere  ; 
but  we  may  hold  over  our  account  of  that  until  a  follow- 
ing chapter,  and  refer  first  to  an  important  enterprise, 
which  may  be  said  to  have  arisen  directly  out  of  the 
publication  of  Natural  Law. 

From  occupying  the  obscure  position  of  professor  in 
a  denominational  college  in  Scotland,  he  had  come  to  be 
the  most  conspicuous  individual  in  the  religious  world 
of  the  day.  Thousands  who  had  read  his  book,  and 
recognised  in  it  that  freshness  and  power  to  which  the 
Spectator  had  called  attention,  were  anxious  to  see  some- 
thing of  the  author  himself ;  and  this  was  especially  the 
case  with  the  better-class  people  from  whose  ranks  the 
clientele  of  the  Spectator  is  principally  drawn.  Idle 
curiosity,  which  ever  keeps  the  leisured  classes  on  tiptoe 
to  hear  or  see  some  new  thing,  was  doubtless  responsible 
for  a  good  deal  of  this  interest  in  the  new  teacher ;  but 
in  the  minds  of  many  there  was  truly  awakened  a  fresh 
interest  in  the  spiritual  world  and  in  their  personal  con- 
cern with  it ;  while  a  great  many,  for  whom  the  older 
methods  of  religious  thought  and  life  had  never  seemed 
other  than    satisfying,  were   delighted    to    observe  the 

85 


86  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

revived  interest  in  spiritual  things  manifested  by  their 
neighbours  and  townsmen,  and  were  sincerely  anxious 
to  see  the  sparks  of  curiosity  fanned  into  a  flame  of 
Christian  enthusiasm  and  life. 

Thus  it  came  about  that,  in  the  winter  of  1884—85, 
overtures  were  made  to  Drummond  with  a  view  to  his 
conducting  a  series  of  meetings  in  the  West  End  of 
London,  under  such  auspices  as  might  most  easily  secure 
the  attendance  of  members  of  the  class  which  is  com- 
monly denominated  the  Upper  Ten  Thousand,  In  its 
promotion,  correspondence  was  carried  on  principally  by 
the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Aberdeen.  After  some  per- 
suasion, and  the  adjustment  of  a  programme  of  method, 
Drummond  gave  his  consent,  and  the  following  adver- 
tisement appeared  in  the  Society  columns  of  the  Morning 
Post,  on  25th  April  1885  : — 

"  Pkofessor  Henry  Drummond  (Author  oi  Natural  Law  in 
the  Sjnritual  World),  will,  by  request,  give  addresses  at 
Grosvenor  House,  by  kind  permission  of  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Westminster,  on  Sundays  April  26  (to- 
morrow), May  3,  and  10.  Admission  can  be  had  by 
ticket,  which  can  be  obtained  on  application  to  Mr. 
R.  Thompson,  37  Grosvenor  Square." 

The  meetings  were  held  in  the  ballroom  of  Grosvenor 
House,  and,  on  the  three  days  advertised,  the  room,  which 
could  hold  over  five  hundred,  was  completely  filled,  and 
that  with  the  class  of  people  for  which  the  meetings 
were  designed.  The  presence  of  such  prominent  men 
as  the  Duke  of  Westminster,  Lord  Selborne,  the  Marquis 
of  Hartington,  Lord  Sherbrooke,  Mr.  W.  E.  Forster, 
MP.,  and  Mr.  Childers,  M.P.,  was  noted  at  the  time. 
If  those  who  came  expected  a  lecture  upon  a  scientific 
topic,  they  must  have  been  greatly  surprised  when 
Drummond,  selecting  a  simple  evangelistic  address, 
talked  to  them,  on  the  three  respective  occasions,  upon 


AMONG  THE  UPPER  TEN  THOUSAND        87 

the  subjects  of  Christianity  looked  at  from  the  stand- 
point of  Evolution,  and  of  Natural  Selection  in  reference 
to  Christianity.  Beyond  the  address,  there  was  no 
Bervice,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  closing  prayer, 
the  words  of  which  have  been  preserved : — 

"  Lord  Jesus,  we  have  been  talking  to  one  another 
about  Thee,  and  now  we  talk  to  Thee,  face  to  face. 
Thou  art  not  far  from  any  one  of  us.  Thou  art  nearer 
than  we  are  to  one  another,  and  Thou  art  saying  to  us, 
*  Come  unto  Me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.'  So  we  come, 
just  as  we  are.  We  pray  Thee  to  remember  us  in  Thy 
mercy  and  love.  Take  not  Thy  Spirit  away  from  us, 
but  enable  us,  more  and  more,  to  enter  into  fellow- 
ship with  Thyself.  Bless  all  here  who  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  sincerity.  Help  those  who  love  Thee  not,  and 
who  miss  Thee  every  day  they  live,  here  and  now  to 
begin  their  attachment  and  devotion,  to  Thy  person  and 
service,  for  Thy  name's  sake.     Amen." 

The  impression  produced  by  the  meetings  upon  the 
average  member  of  the  class  in  society  that  they 
were  expected  to  influence  may  be  guessed  at,  if  we 
read  between  the  lines  of  a  piquant  article,  entitled 
"  Wanted  a  Eeligion,"  which  appeared  in  the  columns  of 
the  World,  on  27th  May  1885.  From  this  "human 
document "  we  take  the  liberty  to  extract  a  number  of 
paragraphs,  for  preservation. 

"Never  was  there  a  time  when  those  who  live  in, 
and,  as  some  may  erroneously  fancy,  solely  for,  the 
world,  were  less  worldly,  or  relapsed  more  frequently 
into  Berious  thought.  The  extraordinary  rush  which 
there  was  the  other  day  for  the  new  edition  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  immediate  exhaustion  of  a  stock  of  two 
or  three  million  copies,  may  have  served  to  remind  us 
that,  after  all,  religion  fills  a  larger  place  in  the  exist- 


88  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

ence  of  the  Englishman  than  any  other  object  of  human 
interest.  .  .  .  The  last  decade  and  a  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  may  find  it  a  little  difficult  to  know 
what  to  believe ;  but  it  is  willing  to  believe  almost 
anything,  and  it  is  perpetually  on  the  search  for  some 
teacher  who  will  show  it  a  new  form  of  faith,  who  will 
reset  old  forms  in  an  attractive  framework,  or  who  will 
embellish  them  with  original  illustrations. 

"  If  this  were  not  so,  it  is  impossible  that  the  young 
Scottish  Professor  who  has  recently  been  staying  in 
London  should  have  achieved  the  brilliant  success  of 
which  he  has  reason  to  be  proud.  Nothing  exactly  of 
the  same  kind  has  been  done  before.  Society  has  flocked 
to  Albemarle  Street  to  listen  to  his  discourses  which 
have  been  a  dexterous  melange,  tolerably  lucid,  or  abso- 
lutely unintelligible,  as  the  case  may  be,  of  half  a  dozen 
'ologies. 

"...  The  exceedingly  clever  and  canny  author  of 
Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  who  has  an  eye 
to  dramatic  effect  far  more  acute  than  is  possessed  by 
most  professional  dramatists  or  actors,  and  who  combines 
with  the  facile  pen  of  the  practised  publicist  a  scientific 
vocabulary  of  infinite  resource,  stands  forth  in  con- 
spicuous relief,  both  for  what  he  has  done  and  for  what 
he  is,  from  the  sensational  notoriety-hunters  of  the 
epoch.  He  has  eclipsed  Mr.  Laurence  Oliphant,  who 
was  himself  more  or  less  in  the  same  line  of  business, 
completely ;  and  as  for  Mr.  Moncure  Conway,  that 
gentleman  was,  to  use  an  expressive  Americanism,  never 
in  the  same  street  with  him.  .  .  . 

"Professor  Drummond  .  .  .  has  struck  out  a  com- 
pletely new  line  of  his  own,  in  which  there  is  nothing 
that  is  not  dignified,  nothing  that  is  not  telling.  To  be 
able  to  collect,  even  under  a  ducal  roof,  on  four  (sic) 
successive  Sunday  afternoons,  four  or  five  hundred  people, 


AMONG  THE  UPPER  TEN  THOUSAND        89 

many  of  them  of  the  highest  distinction,  social  and 
intellectual,  is  a  triumph  of  ingenious  ingenuity.  Mr. 
Drummond  has  invented  a  gospel  which,  if  not  entirely 
new,  has  just  enough  novelty  about  it  to  pique  and 
interest  the  fashionable  public,  and  which  can  be  per- 
fectly well  reconciled  with  the  somewhat  effete,  but 
always  to  be  respected,  evangel  of  the  New  Testament. 
He  applies  the  principle  of  evolution,  the  law  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest,  to  spiritual  existence.  He  does 
not  consign  to  perdition  all  who  fail  to  lead  a  highly 
spiritual  life  here.  He  only  reminds  them  that  they 
are  not  qualifying  themselves  for  the  life  to  come.  For 
the  effect  he  has  produced,  everything  depends  upon  his 
management  of  his  material.  Sometimes  his  religion 
and  his  science  have  fused  their  currents  and  travelled 
in  a  common  stream.  Sometimes  they  have  run  in 
parallel  channels.  Sometimes  their  relations  have  been 
of  a  different  kind,  and  the  lecturer  has  employed 
religion  as  the  gilding  of  the  pill  of  science,  or  science 
as  the  rationahsing  witness  to  religion.  But  whatever 
the  method  adopted,  the  result  produced  has  been  the 
same ;  and  the  audience  has  departed  profoundly  im- 
pressed by  the  words  of  wisdom  and  solemnity  issuing 
from  the  lips  of  a  graceful  young  man  with  a  good 
manner,  a  not  ill-favoured  face,  a  broad  Scotch  accent, 
clad  in  a  remarkably  well-fitting  frock-coat,  and  reciting, 
after  his  prelection,  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  a  tone  of  devout 
humility  remarkable  for  the  professors  of  the  period. 
Mr.  Drummond  has,  in  fact,  produced  upon  his  hearers 
the  impression  that  the  teachings  of  science  are,  upon 
the  whole,  in  favour  of  revealed  religion.  For  that  they 
take,  not  only  him,  but  religion,  science,  and  themselves, 
the  better.  They  have  always  believed  that  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the  Bible ;  and  now  that  Mr. 
Drummond,  with  his   talk  about  amoeba,  polycistinae, 


90  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

and  parasitism,  has  demonstrated  this  to  be  the  case, 
they  feel  themselves  delicately  complimented,  and  they 
would  be  ungrateful  if  they  were  not  amiably  disposed 
towards  the  Professor. 

"  Nothing  could  be  easier,  and  nothing  could  be  more 
contemptible,  than  to  disparage  or  satirise  the  serious 
struggle  which  society  is  now  making  to  obtain  from 
some  one  of  its  many  spiritual  teachers  a  new  revelation, 
or,  if  not  that,  to  have  its  feet  directed  into  the  ways  of 
a  new  religion.  Nothing,  again,  could  be  easier  than  to 
take  a  more  or  less  humorous  view  of  Mr.  Drummond's 
dissertations  at  Grosvenor  House.  Naturally  the  pro- 
fessional religionists  are  a  little  jealous  at  his  success. 
The  Church  papers  hint  that  he  is  an  amateur  and  a 
quack.  But  then  that  is  only  professional  jealousy. 
There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  evangelists  like  Mr. 
Drummond  should  not  co-operate  with  the  salaried 
interpreters  of  another  evangel,  now  some  nineteen 
centuries  old.  Or  it  may  be  said  that  Mr.  Drummond 
would  scarcely  take  a  leading  part  in  a  performance 
which  certainly  seems  to  have  a  good  deal  that  is 
artificial  about  it,  if  he  had  any  store  of  the  sincerity 
and  earnestness  which  ought  to  be  the  attributes  of  the 
religious  teacher.  Upon  this  it  is  enough  to  observe 
that  audiences,  as  fastidious,  as  discriminating,  and  as 
highly  educated  as  any  in  the  world,  have  been  won 
over  by  his  utterances.  That  he  will  produce  a  moral 
or  social  revolution  is  no  more  to  be  anticipated  than 
that  he  will  change  the  future  history  of  the  human 
race.  But  that  he  will  be  instrumental  in  effecting  an 
appreciable  degree  of  improvement  in  our  social  tone  is 
far  from  impossible.  He  may,  indeed,  almost  claim  to 
have  done  this  already.  He  has  caused  society  to  talk, 
not  only  about  himself,  but  about  the  subjects  which  he 
expounds.     After    all,    Darwinism,    as    applied    to    the 


AMONG  THE  UPPER  TEN  THOUSAND        91 

spiritual  world,  is  quite  as  edifying  a  theme  for  dinner 
conversation  as  second-hand  scandal  or  twentieth-hand 
politics.  Perhaps  the  interest  he  has  created  in  the 
topics  that  throng  the  borderland  between  physics  and 
faith  may  not  be  permanent.  But  what  is  permanent 
in  these  times  ?  And  it  is  quite  enough  to  know  that 
his  words  do,  for  the  time,  provide  matter  for  reflection. 
Granting,  even,  that  religion,  or  the  new  blend  between 
science  and  religion,  is  taken  up  by  society  as  a  species 
of  diversion,  and  occupies  the  same  moral  level  as 
philanthropy,  charity  organisation,  domiciliary  visits  paid 
to  the  poor  at  the  East  End,  music,  old  china,  or  lawn 
tennis,  that  is  no  reason  why  it  should  be  discouraged. 
It  is  better  for  society  to  be  occupied  in  this  manner 
than  in  many  others  which  might  be  mentioned.  And, 
indeed,  to  those  who  look  a  little  beneath  the  surface, 
there  is  something  not  only  instructive,  but  pathetic,  in 
the  avidity  with  which  English  society,  supposed  to  be 
irreligious,  but,  in  reality  the  most  religious  in  the  world, 
snatches  at  the  spiritual  mixture  prepared  for  it  by  Mr. 
Drummond.  What — such  is  the  question  that  presents 
itself  to  many  minds — might  not  be  hoped  for,  if  some 
new  and  authentic  revelation  were  to  be  delivered  to 
society  by  a  greater  even  than  Mr.  Drummond  ? " 

If,  however,  the  World  spoke  for  the  average  man, 
there  were  many  in  whom  Drummond's  addresses  were 
the  means  of  touching  chords  of  feeling  not  often 
reached ;  and,  much  as  he  may  have  valued  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  him  by  the  meetings  at  Grosvenor  House, 
the  very  numerous  instances  in  which  he  was  appealed 
to  for  further  teaching,  and  guidance,  by  persons  who 
had  been  present  at  these  gatherings,  must  have  been 
prized  by  him  as  an  evidence  that  he  had  received  more 
than  the  call  of  man  to  undertake  the  work. 


92  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

After  a  lapse  of  three  years,  a  second  group  of  West 
End  meetings  was  held  in  Grosvenor  House  on  3rd,  10th, 
and  17th  June  1888,  this  time  in  response  to  an  appeal 
signed,  among  others,  by  Lord  Aberdeen,  Mr.  Arthur 
James  Balfour,  Mr.  G.  N.  Curzon,  M.P.  (now  Lord 
Curzon,  Viceroy  and  Governor-General  of  India),  the 
Eev.  J.  E.  C.  Welldon,  Headmaster  of  Harrow  School 
(now  Bishop  of  Calcutta),  and  Captain  John  Sinclair,  M.P. 

In  this  series  of  meetings,  the  attendance  was  limited 
to  the  male  sex,  ostensibly  on  account  of  the  limited  size 
of  the  rooms  at  Grosvenor  House.  The  interest  was 
quite  as  great  as  it  had  been  on  the  former  occasion. 
"  The  great  square  room  .  .  .  was  densely  crowded  by 
an  interested  and  representative  gathering — politicians, 
clergymen,  authors,  artists,  critics,  soldiers,  and  barristers ; 
with  a  large  sprinkling  of  smart  young  men  whose 
appearance  would  scarcely  have  suggested  a  vivid  interest 
in  serious  concerns."  The  addresses  dealt,  in  turn,  with 
the  cosmopolitan  test  of  Christianity,  the  programme  of 
Christianity  in  relation  to  human  society,  and  the  pro- 
gramme of  Christianity  in  relation  to  the  individual. 

The  meetings  again  produced  a  harvest  of  corre- 
spondence and  personal  intercourse  with  men  who  sought 
spiritual  help.  But,  only  the  Great  Day  will  reveal  the 
amount  of  lasting  work  Drummond  was  enabled  to  do  by 
this  means. 

There  were  many  indirect  fruits  of  these  West  End 
meetings,  however.  Notably,  there  was  the  warm 
personal  friendship  with  Lord  and  Lady  Aberdeen, 
maintained  with  mutual  advantage  until  the  day  of 
Drummond's  death.  In  1885  Lord  Aberdeen  was  Lord 
High  Commissioner  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  in  Edinburgh,  and  Drummond  was 
his  guest  at  Holyrood  Palace  on  the  occasion.  In 
February  1886,  when  Mr.  Gladstone  returned  to  power, 


rhoto.  l.iuiihu.h.  I.ond, 


AT     DOLLIS     HILL,     1888, 


AMONG  THE  UPPER  TEN  THOUSAND       93 

Lord  Aberdeen  was  installed  at  Dublin  Castle  as  Viceroy 
of  Ireland,  and  offered  Drummond  an  appointment  on 
his  staff.  This  he  declined,  but  he  was  several  times 
Lord  Aberdeen's  guest  at  Dublin,  and  there  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Mr.  John  Morley  and  Mr.  W.  E.  Forster. 
At  Lord  and  Lady  Aberdeen's  private  residence  of  Dollis 
Hill,  upon  the  outskirts  of  London,  Drummond  had  the 
privilege,  also,  of  meeting  with  Mr.  Gladstone,  who 
formed  a  high  opinion  of  him,  and  used  his  influence 
in  endeavouring  to  induce  him  to  accept  one  or  other  of 
several  invitations  to  contest  a  seat  in  Parliament  which 
he  had  received.  Drummond  could  not  see  his  way  to 
do  this,  but  he  threw  himself  into  the  ensuing  election 
campaign  in  the  interest  of  Mr.  Gladstone's  party.  He 
was  also  offered,  and  refused,  the  Secretaryship  of  the 
Shipping  Commission. 

But  when  an  opportunity  for  definite  religious  work 
was  put  in  his  way  he  had  always  great  difficulty  in 
declining  his  help.  After  his  first  series  of  West  End 
meetings,  he  devoted  a  large  amount  of  time  and  energy 
to  the  formation  and  early  efforts  of  an  Associated 
Workers'  League,  which  was  designed  to  draw  the  women 
of  the  West  End  into  organised  work  for  the  social  and 
religious  betterment  of  their  sisters  in  the  East  End. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  League,  "  slumming  "  became 
almost  fashionable;  and,  although  many  dropped  off 
when  the  wave  of  fashion  had  passed,  quite  a  number  of 
the  members  of  the  League  received  an  initiation  into 
practical  Christian  work  in  which  they  have  continued 
ever  since.  After  the  meetings  in  1888,  the  "Eighty- 
eight  Club,"  a  society  for  the  young  women  of  the  West 
End,  seeking  to  unite  its  members  in  definite  Christian 
and  social  effort,  had  a  career  and  sphere  of  usefulness, 
somewhat  similar  to  that  enjoyed  by  the  earlier  Associated 
Workers'  League. 


94  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Details  might  be  given  of  a  number  of  other  oppor- 
tunities which  the  West  End  meetings  afforded  to 
Drummond ;  but,  perhaps,  what  has  just  been  recorded 
is  sufficient  to  demonstrate  that  he  had  a  unique  oppor- 
tunity for  evangelism  among  the  members  of  a  "  difficult " 
class,  and  availed  himself  of  it  to  the  fulL 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Edinburgh  Students'  Revival. 

THE  man  whose  appearance  is  the  sign  for  a  great 
movement,  the  evangelist  who  conducts  a  revival, 
is  in  common  parlance  accredited  with  its  initiation ;  , 
but  when  time  is  taken  to  look  below  the  surface,  and 
to  probe  into  the  beginnings  of  things,  it  is  always 
found  that  the  field  of  operations  has  been  ripening 
under  influences  controlled  by  God  alone. 

Eecognising  this,  we  find  it  difficult  to  say  where 
exactly  the  revival  among  the  students  of  Edinburgh 
University,  which  cropped  out  in  the  winter  session  of 
1884-85,  actually  had  its  rise.  We  know,  however,  that 
in  the  executive  of  the  Medical  Students'  Christian 
Association  in  that  year  there  were  several  men,  drawn 
from  different  parts  of  the  Empire, — India,  Australia, 
England,  and  Scotland, — who  combined  personal  piety 
with  a  concern  for  the  welfare  of  others.  We  know, 
too,  that  a  group  of  Scotsmen,  similarly  inspired,  were 
prominent  members  of  the  Arts  Students*  Christian 
Prayer-Meeting  Association  at  the  time.  A  centripetal 
spiritual  force  had  brought  these  men  to  Edinburgh 
simultaneously.  The  session  began  with  an  appearance 
of  more  than  common  interest  in  Christian  life  and 
work,  and  when  Mr.  James  E.  Mathieson  wrote  inquir- 
ing whether  the  men  of  Edinburgh  University  would 
give  a  hearing   to   Stanley  Smith — late   stroke  of  the 

95 


96  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Cambridge  Eight  in  the  Inter-University  boat-race — and 
C.  T.  Studd — late  Captain  of  the  Cambridge  Eleven,  an 
international  cricketer,  whose  name  was  widely  known 
in  athletic  circles  —  before  they  left  the  country  for 
mission  work  in  China,  not  only  were  those  societies 
prepared  to  extend  a  hearty  welcome  to  these  'Varsity 
men,  but  there  were  competent  and  enthusiastic  indi- 
viduals in  their  membership  ready  to  form  themselves 
into  a  committee,  and  make  all  the  necessary  preparations 
for  a  successful  meeting. 

Messrs.  Studd  and  Smith  came  to  Edinburgh,  and  on 
9  th  December  addressed  a  large  and  enthusiastic  gather- 
ing of  University  men  at  a  meeting  in  the  Free  Assembly 
Hall,  presided  over  by  Professor  Charteris.  The  manly 
appearance  and  eloquent  address  of  Stanley  Smith,  and 
the  difficult  speech  and  manifest  earnestness  of  C.  T. 
Studd — who  gave  his  testimony  as  to  the  call  he  had 
received  to  an  "  out-and-out "  consecration  of  his  life  to 
the  service  of  Christ — combined  to  disabuse  the  most 
critical ;  suspicion  of  "  cant "  gave  place  to  manifest 
interest  and  cordiality ;  and  by  not  a  few  men  the  aim 
of  Christian  teaching  was  seen  in  its  true  light  for  the 
first  time.  Studd  and  Smith,  as  they  were  at  once 
familiarly  called,  were  not  left  in  any  doubt  as  to  the 
impression  they  had  been  enabled  to  make,  for  they 
were  pressed  to  promise  a  return  visit.  This  came  off 
a  few  weeks  later,  after  the  Christmas  recess.  On 
Sunday,  the  28th  of  January,  the  Synod  Hall,  the 
largest  in  Edinburgh,  was  crowded  out  by  an  audience 
consisting  exclusively  of  students.  Professor  Grainger 
Stewart  occupied  the  chair,  and  quite  a  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Senatus,  and  of  others  of  the  University's 
teaching  staff,  accompanied  him  to  the  platform.  On 
the  following  evening  an  almost  more  impressive  meeting 
was  held  in  the  Free  Assembly  Hall.     Seated  for  almost 


THE  EDINBURGH  STUDENTS'  REVIVAL     97 

two  thousand  persons,  this  auditorium  was  completely 
filled  with  another  gathering  of  students,  week-night 
though  it  might  be,  this  time  under  the  chairmanship  of 
the  most  popular  teacher  in  the  Arts  Faculty,  Professor 
Butcher.  In  the  addresses  delivered  by  the  two  mis- 
sioners  there  was  nothing  that  differentiated  one  of 
these  appearances  from  another ;  but  no  one  who  was 
privileged  to  join  in  the  work  could  doubt  that  the  effect 
produced  was  cumulative.  Numbers  of  the  men  con- 
fessed to  a  new-born  faith  and  new  resolve ;  and  many 
more  gave  tokens  of  an  inward  struggle  in  which  evil 
and  good  strove  for  the  mastery.  But  the  Edinburgh 
meetings  were  only  an  "  aside  "  in  the  programme  which 
had  been  prepared  for  Studd  and  Smith.  They  were  on 
the  eve  of  setting  out  for  the  Far  East ;  their  passages 
had  already  been  booked,  and  their  newly-made  friends 
had  to  bid  them  a  reluctant  farewell. 

It  was  manifest  to  the  committee  that  things  could 
not  be  allowed  to  lapse  at  this  point,  and  every  man 
asked  his  neighbour,  "  Whom  shall  we  invite  to  follow 
up  the  work  ? "  In  a  few  days  this  was  answered  when 
it  was  announced  that  "Professor  Drummond  of  Glasgow" 
would  address  the  students  in  the  Oddfellows'  Hall  on 
the  following  Sunday. 

To  most  of  the  undergraduates  Drummond  was  what 
they  would  call  "a  dark  horse."  Some  of  them  had 
heard  him  deliver  a  lecture  on  "  The  Contribution  of 
Science  to  Christianity  "  at  the  meeting  of  the  Medical 
Students'  Christian  Association  with  which  the  session's 
work  had  opened ;  a  few  more  recognised  the  name  of 
the  author  of  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World ;  the 
rest  knew  nothing. 

But,  on  that  first  Sunday  after  the  departure  of  Studd 
and  Smith,  a  steady  flow  of  "  men "  presented  their 
matriculation  cards  to  the  jealous  doorkeepers  at  the 
7 


98  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Oddfellows'  Hall,  and  the  total  assemblage  of  eight  or 
nine  hundred  students  that  evening  was  a  witness  to 
the  keen  interest  that  had  been  awakened.  Without 
anticipating  too  much,  it  may  only  be  said  here  that 
they  did  not  get  what  they  expected.  Drummond's 
appearance  and  manner  and  method  were  of  a  type 
which  they  had  not  been  accustomed  to  associate  with 
the  idea  of  evangelistic  meetings.  In  every  respect  his 
appeal  was  the  antithesis  of  the  conventional  ;  but  it 
told.  Men  who  had  some  experience  of  the  Christian 
life  felt  that  they  had  never  before  so  fully  realised  the 
dignity  of  their  calling  to  "  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of 
God  " ;  others  who  had  had  no  past  Christian  experience 
discovered  that  they  had  been  "  canting  "  in  their  refusal 
to  appreciate  the  claims  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  re- 
mained at  the  close  of  the  meeting  to  have  a  talk  with 
the  teacher  whose  manliness  seemed  only  the  more 
manly  for  his  obedience  to  the  counsel  of  God. 

While  it  was  clear  to  everyone  else  that  the  work 
was  bound  to  go  on,  Drummond,  with  persistent  diffi- 
dence, would  only  promise  to  return  on  the  following 
Sunday ;  and,  when  that  again  brought  a  more  crowded 
house  and  a  greater  intensity  of  interest  among  the  men, 
he  agreed  to  address  the  meeting  a  week  later.  And  so 
on,  in  this  way,  for  the  remainder  of  the  winter  session, 
and  for  the  whole  of  the  following  summer  and  other 
succeeding  sessions,  with  occasional  short  intervals,  he 
was  led  from  week  to  week  in  the  conduct  of  the  enter- 
prise with  which  his  name  to-day  is  perhaps  most  closely 
associated. 

When  we  have  reverently  acknowledged  the  gracious 
operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  which,  like  the  wind, 
bloweth  where  it  listeth,  moving  the  hearts  of  men  in 
divers  manners  and  in  widely  different  environments, 
we   may   be  permitted   to   discuss   the  sources   of    the 


THE  EDINBURGH  STUDENTS'  REVIVAL     99 

attractive  power  that,  humanly  speaking,  accounted  for 
the  phenomenal  and  sustained  success  which  followed 
Drummond's  labours  among  the  students  of  Edinburgh 
University.  We  are  inclined  to  point  to  his  unique 
personality,  his  unconventional  methods  of  work,  and 
his  message. 

His  was  a  personality  indeed — no  man  was  ever 
mistaken  for  Drummond,  nor  was  he  ever  mistaken  for 
any  other.  On  the  street,  his  well-set-up  form,  his 
erect  carriage,  his  "princely  swing"  as  someone  has 
called  it,  his  faultless  attire,  differentiated  him  from 
every  other  member  of  the  passing  crowd.  In  private 
conversation,  his  rich,  low-toned  voice,  with  its  delicate 
"  burr,"  his  earnest  and  yet  bright-spirited  manner,  his 
fine  open  face,  his  sparkling  blue  eyes,  all  combined  to 
charm,  to  disarm  suspicious  fear,  and  to  elicit  the 
frankest  confidence,  even  in  regard  to  the  innermost 
communings  of  the  soul.  Undoubtedly,  as  Dr.  John 
Watson  has  said,  "  the  distinctive  and  commanding 
feature  of  his  face  was  his  eye.  No  photograph  could 
do  it  justice,  and  very  often  photographs  have  done  it 
injustice,  by  giving  the  idea  of  staringness.  His  eye 
was  not  bold  or  fierce;  it  was  tender  and  merciful. 
But  it  had  a  power  and  hold  which  were  little  else 
than  irresistible  and  almost  supernatural.  When  you 
talked  with  Drummond,  he  did  not  look  at  you  and 
out  of  the  window  alternately,  as  is  the  usual  manner ; 
he  never  moved  his  eyes,  and  gradually  their  pene- 
trating gaze  seemed  to  reach  and  encompass  your  soul. 
It  was  as  Plato  imagined  it  would  be  in  the  judgment : 
one  soul  was  in  contact  with  another — nothing  between. 
No  man  could  be  double,  or  base,  or  mean,  or  impure 
before  that  eye." 

On  the  platform,  Drummond's  personality  became 
even  more  distinct.     We  can  still  picture  him,  one  of 


loo  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

God  Almighty's  gentlemen  (to  borrow  Mr.  Hare's 
phrase),  as,  attired  in  a  well-cut  frock-coat,  closely 
buttoned,  and  wearing  a  particular  shape  of  collar,  and 
a  quiet-coloured  necktie,  he  stood,  almost  invariably,  on 
the  left  of  the  chairman's  table,  resting  his  right  hand 
upon  it,  and  holding  his  left  arm  akimbo.  With  a  voice 
that  reached  the  farthest  seat  in  the  auditorium,  and 
would  not  have  penetrated  six  feet  beyond  it,  in  tones 
of  sweet  reasonableness,  and  in  a  manner  that  did  not 
seem  to  cause  him  the  least  effort,  he  began,  continued, 
and  ended  his  address.  Not  once,  but  many  times, 
that  address  lasted  for  fifty  minutes,  and  those  who 
listened  could  not  have  told  that  half  that  space  of  time 
had  elapsed.  As  all  who  have  read  any  of  his  writings 
will  immediately  recognise,  his  vocabulary  was  a  rich 
one.  He  had  read  widely  in  helles  lettres,  as  well  as 
in  science  and  theology ;  he  had  travelled  much ;  and, 
enriched  by  fitting  figures  of  speech,  or  apt  illustration, 
these  addresses  of  his  seemed  naturally  to  clothe  them- 
selves in  the  most  adequate  form  of  expression  possible. 
When  he  lectured  upon  any  subject,  and  much  more 
when  he  spoke  under  the  influence  of  the  master-passion 
of  his  life,  his  manner  commanded  the  admiration  of  the 
most  critical  audiences. 

Although  Drummond  was  a  comparatively  unknown 
man  in  Edinburgh  University  circles  when  he  first 
appeared  on  the  platform  at  the  Students'  Meetings,  and 
although  it  was  with  the  greatest  diffidence,  and  after 
several  appeals,  that  he  consented  to  take  part, — "  I 
cannot  address  students  in  cold  blood,"  he  first  wrote, — 
we  believe  that  everyone  will  now  agree  that  all  his 
previous  experience  had  qualified  him  in  no  ordinary 
manner  for  the  delicate  task  proposed  to  him.  When 
he  stipulated  that  the  meetings  should  be  strictly  con- 
fined to  students  only,  he  was  making  use  of  his  dis- 


THE  EDINBURGH  STUDENTS'  REVIVAL     loi 

covery  in  1873—74  that  evangelistic  work  was  often 
most  effectively  carried  on  when  restricted  to  individual 
classes  in  the  community ;  and,  if  he  made  frequent 
adaptations  from  the  methods  of  his  great  master, 
D.  L.  Moody,  he  as  often  adopted  lines  of  teaching  and 
of  organisation  which  were  designed,  with  more  or  less 
success,  to  avoid  the  encroachment  of  what  he  might 
have  called  certain  forms  of  parasitism  that  find  too  con- 
genial an  atmosphere  in  "  evangelistic  work."  Through- 
out, he  displayed  a  jealous  anxiety  for  the  elimination 
of  anything  that  might  needlessly  hurt  the  'Varsity 
man's  amour  propre,  and  he  even  endeavoured  to  make 
his  programmes  as  different  as  possible  from  "  the  kind 
of  thing  "  commonly  associated  with  gospel  effort. 

The  meetings  were  announced  weekly  on  Thursdays, 
Fridays,  and  Saturdays,  by  means  of  severely  plain 
placards,  displayed  by  sandwichmen  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  University  and  Medical  Schools. 
On  Sunday,  matriculation  cards  had  to  be  exhibited 
at  the  entrance  to  the  Hall,  in  proof  of  studentship. 
Eeporters  were  rigorously  excluded.  Hymn-books  were 
discarded,  and  specially  printed  hymn-sheets,  stamped 
with  the  crest  of  the  University,  were  used  instead. 
The  meeting  each  Sunday  was  opened  in  the  singing 
of  a  hymn,  a  short  prayer  followed,  and  then  without 
further  preliminaries  Drummond  proceeded  to  unfold 
his  address.  There  was  always  a  text,  but  you  had  to 
discover  it  for  yourself ;  often  he  was  half-way  through 
before  the  man  who  knew  his  Bible  could  make  out  the 
particular  text  that  had  been  selected  as  a  keynote — 
for  others  the  text  came  as  a  climax,  near  the  end. 
During  the  singing  of  another  hymn  the  unimpressed 
were  afforded  opportunity  to  withdraw,  a  short  appeal 
of  five  minutes'  duration,  or  less,  was  then  made  to 
those  who  had  remained,  and  the  meeting  was  closed 


I02  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

with  a  few  words  of  pertinent  prayer.  Committee-men 
were  now  at  liberty  to  speak  to  friends,  Christian  or 
non-Christian,  and  Drummond  gave  himself  to  personal 
conversation  with  one  and  another  of  those  who  would 
elsewhere  have  been  called  "  anxious  inquirers."  Twenty 
minutes  or  half  an  hour  later,  all  had  gone,  and  the 
hall-keeper  switched  off  the  light.  But  Drummond's 
work  was  not  concluded ;  as  likely  as  not  he  was  pacing 
the  streets,  or  the  pathways  of  the  adjacent  public  park, 
for  one,  two,  or  even  three  hours  at  the  dead  of  night, 
wrestling  for  and  with  some  poor  lorn  soul  labouring 
under  intellectual  difficulties  or  the  burden  of  a  horrid 
past. 

Effective  as  Drummond's  addresses  doubtless  were, 
they  only  served  as  sweepnets  to  bring  "  likely  fish " 
within  his  reach.  The  personal  encounter  with  the 
individual,  the  unravelling  of  the  skein  of  a  man's  life, 
the  attack  in  detail  upon  the  obstacles  between  allegi- 
ance to  Christ  and  a  bad  record  and  a  sin-entangled  or 
a  doubt-distracted  present — it  was  in  these  that  he 
found  his  opportunity  and  did  most  enduring  work 
for  his  Master.  In  effort  of  this  sort  he  would  spare 
himself  no  trouble.  He  would  journey  from  Glasgow 
on  a  week-day  for  the  special  purpose  of  seeing  some 
particular  man ;  and,  in  fact,  his  Saturday  afternoons 
were  frequently  devoted  to  visiting  men,  or  giving  them 
audience  at  some  appointed  rendezvous.  It  was  no 
uncommon  thing  to  meet  him  up  three  flights  of  stairs 
in  the  student  quarters  of  the  town,  in  quest  of  men 
at  their  own  lodgings.  The  following  incident,  narrated 
by  a  correspondent,  is  a  concrete  instance : — • 

**  I  remember  one  night  calling  upon  A ,  who  was, 

as  you  know,  a  medical  student  and  a  great  friend  of 
mine.     His  rooms  were  on  the  fourth  storey  of  W 


THE  EDINBURGH  STUDENTS'  REVIVAL     103 

Terrace,  and  it  was  a  climb,  which  winded  even  the 
youngest,  to  reach  his  den,  '  I  say/  was  his  first 
greeting,  *  who  do  you  think  was  here  to  -  day  ? 
Drummond  sat  in  that  very  seat  you  are  in  now.' 
*  I  did  not  know  that  you  knew  him,'  I  said.  *  Well, 
I  don't,  you  know  ;  although  I  have  been  at  a  few  of 
his  meetings.  But  this  afternoon,  as  I  was  coming 
upstairs,  I  met  him  coming  down,  and  he  asked  me  if 
I  knew  where  a  chap  lived  whom  he  named.  I  said 
I  did  not,  and  then  he  looked  hard  at  me,  and  said,  "  I 

say,  I  think  I  know  you.     You  are  A ,  are  you  not  ? " ' 

(My  friend  had  actually  been  persuaded  to  remain  to 
an  after-meeting,  but  had  not  yet  made  the  great 
decision.)  *  On  my  admitting  that  I  was  the  man,'  he 
continued,    '  Professor    Drummond    said,  "  Do    you    dig 

here  ?     May   I  come   up  ?  "     M ,  you   will   hardly 

believe  it,  but  he  turned  back  and  climbed  all  these 
stairs  again.  Upon  my  word,  I  felt  my  rooms  awfully 
small  and  shabby  when  he  came  in  ;  but  he  walked 
forward  to  the  window  at  once  and  said,  "  What  a 
magnificent  view  !  it  is  worth  climbing  so  far  to  see 
a  sight  like  this."  Then  he  came  and  sat  down  in 
that  chair,  and  looked  straight  at  me.  He  asked  me 
what  I  meant  to  do  when  I  was  through  :  whether  I 
meant  to  specialise,  I  told  him  I  thought  of  going 
in  for  general  work,  and  then  he  said,  "  Man,  go  to 
China :  it's  a  splendid  field  for  young  fellows.  If  I 
were  a  medical,  I'd  go  to  China," '  '  Did  he  say  any- 
thing about  religion  ? '  I  asked.  '  No,  not  a  word,' 
said  my  friend ;  '  but,  I  say,  he's  a  splendid  fellow. 
Do  you  know,  I  watched  him  go  down  the  terrace,  and 
I  thought  what  a  magnificent-looking  chap  he  was. 
Think  if  he  had  been  an  officer  in  a  cavalry  regiment ! 
I  say,  I  don't  feel  as  if  I  could  forget  that  Drummond 
eat  in  my  rooms  ! '     It  is  perhaps  significant  that  two 


I04  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

years  later,  when  A was  occupying  the  position  of 

medical  assistant  in  a  country  practice,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  me  which  showed  that  he  had  then  begun 
the  Christian  life.  Up  till  his  meeting  with  Drummond 
he  had  been  known  in  the  University  as  a  pronounced 
and  even  violent  materialist." 

In  giving  himself  to  this  personal  work,  Drummond 
was  only  obeying  instincts  of  his  spiritual  nature.  Few 
men  are  as  well  qualified  as  he  was,  both  by  experience 
and  God-given  endowment,  for  engaging  in  it.  His  was 
a  personality  which  attracted  and  almost  compelled  a 
spirit  of  confession  in  those  with  whom  he  conversed. 
The  compulsion  was  one  of  love  and  of  mercy,  but  it 
was  compulsion  of  a  sort,  all  the  same.  Here  was  a 
strong  and  pure  heart,  upon  whose  sympathy  the  sinner 
might  count,  be  his  past  never  so  black  ;  here  was  a 
friend  who  would  never  betray  a  confidence,  nor  take 
mean  or  censorious  advantage  of  the  most  damning  self- 
revelation  ;  here  was  a  man  whose  faith  was  firm,  because 
Jesus  Christ  was  his  most  intimate  and  dearest  Friend. 

It  was  a  noticeable  feature  of  Drummond's  addresses 
that  he  seldom  referred  to  the  experiences  of  those  with 
whom  he  had  conversed  on  religious  questions  of  a 
personal  nature.  In  this  he  was  unlike  Moody,  whose 
teaching  took  on  a  human  note  from  its  abundant 
reference  to  difficulties  or  doubts  or  distractions  which 
had  been  characteristic  features  in  the  cases  of  in- 
dividuals who  had  sought  his  help  at  one  time  or 
another ;  although  of  course  he  gave  no  clue  to  the 
identity  of  the  persons  of  whom  he  was  speaking.  We 
are  almost  inclined  to  imagine  that  the  problems  and 
the  spiritual  diseases  which  were  brought  to  Drummond 
had  less  to  do  with  doubt  and  ignorance  and  a  worldly 
spirit,  than  with  black,  blasting,  sinful  deeds  or  habits 


THE  EDINBURGH  STUDENTS'  REVIVAL     105 

of  life.  "  Such  tales  of  woe  I've  heard  in  Moody's 
inquir^^-room  that  I've  felt  I  must  go  and  change  my 
very  clothes  after  the  contact,"  he  once  said.  But,  if 
he  did  not  speak  of  them,  these  experiences  with 
troubled  souls,  gained  in  Moody's  two  campaigns,  and 
in  his  own  mission  in  the  West  End  of  London,  as  well 
as  among  the  students,  were  all  at  his  command,  and 
doubtless  added  to  his  exceptional  qualifications  for  this 
difficult  and  yet  most  fruitful  work. 

The  remaining  factor  in  Drummond's  success  with  the 
Edinburgh  students  was  undoubtedly  his  message.  Not 
that  his  "  Gospel,"  as  it  was  unsympathetically  termed 
by  some  outsiders,  contained  any  novel  theological 
propositions  or  philosophical  speculations.  It  was  a 
simple  instrument  of  a  few  strings,  any  one  of  which 
might  be  found  in  the  teaching  of  the  most  orthodox 
preacher.  His  addresses  were  keyed  up  to  such  texts 
as  "  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteous 
ness " ;  "  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden " ;  the  beautiful  prophetic  description  of 
the  mission  of  the  Messiah  in  the  sixty-first  chapter 
of  Isaiah  ;  Paul's  definition  of  love,  in  his  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthian  Church ;  "  This  is  Life  Eternal,  that 
they  might  know  Thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  whom  Thou  hast  sent " ;  or  "  Temptation."  As 
we  have  already  seen,  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
speaking  from  a  number  of  these  for  years  before  the 
Edinburgh  movement  arose,  and  they  served  his  purpose 
80  well  that  in  the  course  of  the  nine  years  in  which 
he  ministered  to  successive  cycles  of  students  he  never 
greatly  added  to  their  number.  More  than  once  he 
pled  that  a  fresh  voice  should  be  enlisted :  "  I  have 
opened  all  my  tins,"  he  would  humorously  add.  But 
the  difference  lay  in  the  emphasis.  Making  his  appeal 
to  the  heroic  side  of  a  young  man's  character,  he  "  did 


io6  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

without"  some  features  of  the  orthodox  statement  of 
the  Christian  faith,  commonly  stressed  by  gospel 
preachers.  He  endeavoured  to  reveal  Christ  to  his  young 
hearers  from  a  fresh  and  unconventional  standpoint, 
seeking  at  once  their  interest  and  their  intelligent 
concern,  and  in  this  he  was  eminently  successful. 

The  simple  restatement  of  cardinal  Christian  truths, 
embodied  in  his  addresses,  was  coloured  throughout  by 
a  nervous  anxiety  to  avoid  suspicion  of  "cant."  This 
affected  his  theological  nomenclature,  his  illustrations, 
and  even  his  vocabulary.  "  In  talking  to  a  man  you 
want  to  win,"  he  once  counselled  a  gathering  of  workers 
at  Northfield, "  talk  to  him  in  his  own  language.  If  you 
want  to  get  hold  of  an  agnostic,  try  to  translate  what 
you  have  to  say  into  simple  words — words  that  will  not 
be  in  every  case  the  words  in  which  you  got  it.  It  is 
not  cant.  Eeligion  has  its  technical  terms  just  as 
science,  but  it  can  be  overdone ;  and,  besides,  it  is  an 
exceedingly  valuable  discipline  for  one's  self.  Take  a 
text  and  say, '  What  does  that  mean  in  nineteenth-century 
English  ? '  and  in  doing  that  you  will  learn  the  lesson 
that  it  is  the  spirit  of  truth  that  does  one  good,  and  not 
the  form  of  words.  The  form  does  not  matter,  if  it  does 
you  good  and  draws  you  nearer  to  God.  Do  not  be 
suspicious  of  it,  if  it  is  God's  truth,  in  whatever  form  it 
may  be."  Dr.  Stalker  has  said  that  Drummond  "  went 
as  far  as  conscience  would  allow,  in  order  to  meet  the 
doubter  and  the  man  of  the  world  on  their  own  ground." 
In  the  main,  this  conciliatory  attitude  was  more  exactly 
one  of  spirit  and  phraseology,  rather  than  of  definite 
concession ;  an  attempt  to  disarm  prejudice,  rather  than 
a  confession  of  weakness  in  the  traditional  faith. 

Then,  again,  science,  within  certain  limitations,  and 
a  Christian  faith  were  in  a  manner  reconciled  in  his 
person.     A  loyal  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  was  yet 


THE  EDINBURGH  STUDENTS'  REVIVAL     107 

keenly  interested  in  science  and  modern  scientific 
theories.  He  claimed  that  there  had  been  an  ex- 
pansion of  the  intellectual  area  of  Christianity;  and, 
in  his  lecture  on  "  The  Contribution  of  Science  to 
Christianity,"  maintained  that  all  the  achievements  of 
science  were  destined  to  do  service  to  his  Master. 
"  Sooner  or  later,  the  conquest  comes ;  sooner  or  later, 
whether  it  be  art  or  music,  history  or  philosophy,  Chris- 
tianity utilises  the  best  that  the  world  finds,  and  gives 
it  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  God."  Science  certainly 
supplied  him  with  many  an  apt  illustration ;  such  aa 
that,  for  instance,  in  which  he  emphasised  the  proposition 
that  Christ  could  do  away  with  sin.  It  is  all  a  question 
of  gravitation  and  environment,  he  said.  A  water-bottle 
could  be  blown  about  like  a  feather  in  Uranus :  at  the 
Equator  in  Neptune,  a  man  might  jump  ten  feet  off  the 
ground. 

When  we  said  that  Drummond's  message  did  not 
contain  any  novel  theological  propositions,  we  should 
perhaps  have  excepted  his  contention  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  was  nowadays  "  convincing  men  of  righteousness," 
rather  than  of  sin.  He  never  succeeded  in  satisfying 
his  theological  friends  of  the  soundness  of  this  view; 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  had  a  considerable  influence 
upon  his  own  teaching.  He  was  always  more  ready  to 
encourage  his  spiritual  patients  to  reckon  with  the 
present  and  the  future  rather  than  with  the  past. 

In  his  scientific  studies,  the  department  of  biology 
would  appear  to  have  most  fascinated  him,  and  we 
cannot  complete  this  examination  of  the  evangelistic 
teaching  of  his  maturer  years  without  recognising  its 
influence  upon  that.  As  someone  has  well  said,  "He 
did  not  warn  his  hearers  against  the  danger  of  losing 
their  soul,  but  with  terrific  intensity  he  warned  them 
against  the  danger  of  losing  their  life.     Salvation  was  a 


io8  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

biological  problem  to  him,  an  offer  of  the  higher  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  to  which  men  were  capable  of  rising.  He 
kept  encouraging  them,  taunting  them  almost,  to  enter 
into  their  inheritance.  He  made  them  feel  that  they 
were  losing  their  chance,  and  would  stand  as  spiritual 
examples  of  arrested  development."  In  short,  his 
commonest  phrase  was  "your  life." 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 

The  Edinburgh  Work:  Its  Development. 

HAVING  sketched,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the 
beginnings  of  the  revival  in  Edinburgh  University, 
and  the  equipment  which  Professor  Drummoud  brought 
to  the  work,  we  may  speak  now  of  what  was  actually 
accomplished. 

While  organised  effort  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
students  eventually  became  an  institution  rather  than  a 
volcanic  upheaval,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  religious 
awakening  in  the  winter  and  summer  sessions,  1884-85, 
partook  largely  of  the  latter  character.  The  University 
was  moved  as  it  had  not  been  for  years.  "  Drummond's 
Meetings  "  were  recognised  as  the  centre  of  a  Christian 
crusade  for  the  spiritual  betterment  of  the  thousands  of 
undergraduates  attending  its  classes.  In  the  meetings 
themselves,  it  required  no  great  discernment  to  discover 
that,  every  week,  there  were  men  present  who  had 
hitherto  given  no  heed  to  matters  of  religion ;  and, 
upon  occasions  when  Drummond  called  for  a  demonstra- 
tion, many  of  these  openly  ranged  themselves  among 
the  professed  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  At  the  time, 
Drummond  himself  wrote  to  a  friend  confessing  to  "  a 
profound  conviction  that  this  University  movement  is  a 
distinct  work  of  God ;  such  a  work  as  I,  after  considerable 
experience  of  evangelistic  work,  have  never  seen  before." 

As  soon  as  the  genuineness  of  the  movement  was  an 

109 


no  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

assured  fact,  Drummond,  guided  no  doubt  by  the  re- 
collection of  his  own  student  experiences  in  the  first 
Moody  campaign,  suggested  the  despatch  of  "deputations" 
to  sister  Universities.  In  turn,  Aberdeen,  St.  Andrews, 
and  Glasgow  Universities  gave  hearty 'welcome  to  little 
bands  sent  out  from  Edinburgh  to  spread  the  good  news. 
Each  such  deputation  was  led  by  a  Professor  or  Uni- 
versity teacher,  and  comprised  Christian  students  who 
had  thrown  themselves  into  the  movement  as  workers, 
as  well  as  several  of  those  who  had  confessed  themselves 
the  first-fruits  of  the  revival.  The  Professor  would 
preside,  the  story  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  move- 
ment in  Edinburgh  would  be  told  by  one  of  the  workers 
two  or  three  of  the  converts  would  tell  in  simple  fashion 
of  the  great  change  they  had  experienced,  and  a  short 
evangelistic  address  from  another  student  would  bring 
the  meeting  to  a  close. 

In  all  the  Universities  thus  visited,  not  once  but 
several  times,  there  were  "  signs  following."  Nowhere, 
however,  did  a  religious  conflagration  break  out  in  any- 
thing like  the  manner  it  had  done  in  Edinburgh.  Of 
Glasgow  great  things  were  hoped ;  but  there,  more  than 
anywhere  else,  after  a  first  great  meeting,  the  fire  never 
kindled.  It  was  the  old  story  of  the  prophet  and  "  his 
own  country " ;  the  Glasgow  students  did  not  take 
Drummond  seriously.  One  who  was  at  the  time  a 
student  in  his  own  class  in  the  Free  Church  College 
afterwards  wrote  of  this  lack  of  appreciation  as  follows : 
"  The  manysidedness  of  the  man  was  not  lost  upon 
any  of  us.  "We  used  to  say  that  Drummond  could  ride 
three  horses  round  a  circus  without  ever  losing  his 
graceful  balance.  The  Glasgow  horse — a  useful  sort  of 
animal  in  his  way — was  not  a  patch  upon  the  high- 
stepping  Edinburgh  one,  and  this  again  was  tame  in 
comparison  with  the  social  steed,  rather  heard  of  than 


THE  EDINBURGH  WORK  m 

seen  by  ub.  We  could  not  quite  rid  ourselves  of  the 
feeling  that  Edinburgh  was  getting  the  best  of  him. 
That  influence  of  his  in  Edinburgh  was  always  a 
mystery  to  us.  None  of  the  addresses  now  so  famous 
were  delivered  to  us.  Drummond  knew,  as  few  men  do, 
where  to  find  the  right  environment.  Perhaps  he  thought 
the  addresses  too  kid-glovey  for  Glasgow.  His  fame  in 
Glasgow  was  in  truth  an  echo  from  Edinburgh."  Be 
the  reason  what  it  might,  numerous  attempts  to  foster 
a  religious  awakening  among  the  Glasgow  students 
shared  the  fate  of  all  galvanic  effort. 

In  the  end  of  October  and  beginning  of  November 
1885  Drummond  visited  Oxford  University  and  delivered 
addresses  to  crowded  meetings  of  undergraduates.  From 
contemporary  press  reports,  however,  it  would  seem  that 
on  these  occasions  he  avoided  the  "  straight "  evangelistic 
note,  and  spoke  rather  as  the  author  of  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World.  A  year  later,  under  the 
auspices  of  Professor  Christlieb,  he  conducted  several 
evangelistic  meetings  for  the  students  of  Bonn  University. 
No  very  definite  record  of  the  reception  he  got,  or  the 
effect  he  was  enabled  to  produce,  has  been  preserved. 

But  if  the  sister  Universities  were  not  ripe  unto 
harvest,  other  fields  were.  In  the  spring  vacation,  and 
again  in  the  long  vacation  in  summer,  a  large  band  of 
students,  many  of  them  direct  fruits  of  the  movement, 
gave  themselves  to  the  work  of  a  "  Students'  Holiday 
Mission."  In  deputations  of  threes,  fours,  or  fives,  they 
visited  many  of  the  more  important  centres  of  population 
in  Scotland,  and  even  penetrated  into  England  and 
Ireland,  and  to  London  itself,  seeking  to  carry  the 
gospel  message  to  their  fellow  young  men,  and  to 
communicate  their  newly-found  enthusiasm  for  Christ 
to  others  of  their  own  social  position,  and  suffering 
their  own  peculiar  temptations. 


112  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

It  was  a  little  difficult,  at  first,  to  bring  local  workers 
to  see  why  they  should  lay  aside  recognised  methods 
and  prerogatives,  and  permit  the  students  to  carry  out 
their  own  plan  of  campaign,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
most  was  done,  in  the  way  of  reaching  the  difficult  class 
aimed  at,  when  this  plan  was  rigidly  observed. 

Of  course  Drummond  was  the  prime  mover  in  all. 
The  "  Suggestions  "  which  were  issued  to  correspondents 
in  different  centres  who  might  invite  deputations,  bear 
the  imprint  of  his  hand.  As  they  provoke  an  interest- 
ing comparison  with  his  paper  on  the  conduct  of  young 
men's  meetings,  written  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Moody's 
mission,  and  reprinted  in  an  earlier  chapter  of  the 
present  sketch,  and  also  indicate  characteristic  features 
of  the  organisation  of  this  unique  effort  among  young 
men,  we  may  quote  here  some  of  the  principal  paragraphs 
of  these  "  Suggestions  to  Local  Committees  " : — 

"  The  Students  feel  that  their  immediate  mission  is  to 
Young  Men,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Meetings  should, 
if  possible,  be  arranged  in  the  first  instance  for  Men 
Only.  This  is  not  to  be  departed  from  unless  in  very 
exceptional  circumstances. 

"  It  might  strengthen  the  unique  character  of  this 
movement,  and  win  more  attention  from  the  class  whom 
it  is  desired  to  reach,  if  existing  Local  Committees — 
Y.M.C.A's,  Evangelistic  Associations,  and  others — while 
co-operating  to  the  utmost,  should  nominally  remain  in 
the  background,  at  least  during  the  commencement  of 
the  work.  A  small  Executive  might,  however,  be  formed 
from  these  bodies. 

"  For  many  reasons,  it  is  considered  desirable  that 
the  names  of  the  Students  acting  as  Deputies  should  not 
be  made  public  in  any  way.  They  come  simply  as 
'  Students  of  Edinburgh  University,'  their  desire  being 


THE  EDINBURGH  WORK  113 

to  meet  their  fellow  young  men  as  Witnesses  rather 
than  as  Advocates.  They  will  be  accompanied  by  at 
least  one  experienced  student,  who  will  lead  the 
deputation. 

"  The  Deputies  should  in  all  cases  be  boarded  with 
earnest  Christian  friends  of  the  work.  Many  of  them 
will  be  young  converts,  and  very  much  in  their  future 
may  depend  on  the  impressions  they  receive  during  the 
time  spent  with  these  friends. 

"  The  Chairman  of  the  Meeting  should,  where  possible, 
be  a  layman ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  entire  conduct  of  the 
Meeting  ought  perhaps  to  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
senior  Student  in  charge. 

"  The  Meetings  should,  if  possible,  begin  on  a  Sunday 
evening,  and  might  be  continued  till  the  following 
Friday,  although  it  might  not  be  advisable  to  intimate 
more  than  two  or  three  Meetings  at  first." 

Throughout  the  Students'  Holiday  Mission,  Drummond 
declined,  almost  absolutely,  to  accompany  any  of  the 
deputations.  He  was  anxious  that  it  should  be  seen 
and  recognised  that  the  work  was  carried  on  and 
carried  out  by  the  students,  of  their  own  accord.  But 
this  resolve  did  not  prevent  his  taking  the  deepest 
interest  in  the  work ;  and,  at  great  sacrifice  of  time  and 
trouble,  he  gave  the  Deputation  Committees  and  their 
Secretaries  the  benefit  of  his  experience  in  their  dealing 
with  the  freaks  of  various  applicants  for  visits  of 
deputations,  and  in  the  choice  of  suitable  men  for  the 
particular  places  to  be  visited.  Indeed,  he  kept  a  very 
close  eye  upon  the  personnel  of  his  band  of  workers,  and 
was  always  ready  with  a  reason  for  sending  So-and-So 
to  one  place,  and  for  keeping  him  out  of  a  deputation 
to  another  place. 

If  an  account  of  the  Edinburgh  Students'  Holiday 
8 


114  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Mission  is  ever  fully  written,  it  will  furnish  a  story  of 
no  little  interest.  But  we  are  here  only  concerned 
with  Druminond's  share  in  its  inception  and  conduct, 
and  sufficient  indication  has  already  been  given  of  the 
debt  which,  from  first  to  last,  it  owed  to  him. 

In  session,  Sunday  and  week-end  deputations  provided 
an  outlet  for  the  energy  of  many  of  Drummond's  young 
workers,  and  much  permanent  good  resulted  from  their 
unconventional  efforts.  Somewhat  after  the  manner  of 
Drummond  himself,  by  their  unaffected  frankness  and  in 
their  honest  breadth  of  human  sympathy,  they  secured 
the  ear  of  the  young  men  of  a  class  that  is  not  commonly 
found  at  evangelistic  meetings,  and  in  personal  encounter 
had  many  times  the  joy  of  witnessing  a  decision  for  Christ. 

In  nine  succeeding  sessions  Drummond  was  unofficial 
preacher  to  the  students  of  Edinburgh  University,  and 
led  the  Christian  men  in  aggressive  effort  on  similar 
lines  to  those  laid  down  in  the  first,  in  the  manner  which 
we  have  sought  to  indicate.  Undoubtedly  1884—85  was 
the  year  of  the  great  "  wave  "  of  revival,  and  in  no  other 
year  did  this  tide  of  work  among  the  students,  or  of 
their  work  in  the  country,  rise  to  anything  like  the 
high-water  mark  that  it  reached  in  that  year.  But 
steady,  solid  work  was  accomplished  none  the  less,  and 
Drummond  only  reluctantly  abandoned  it  when  the 
illness  which  was  to  prove  fatal  had  laid  a  firm  grasp 
upon  him. 

We  have  heard  the  value  of  Drummond's  evangelistic 
work  belittled  in  some  quarters  where  conventional 
methods  have  seemed  so  abundantly  fruitful  that  an 
effort  to  evangelise  on  unconventional  lines  has  appeared 
to  be  ill-advised,  if  not  impious.  Drummond's  teaching 
reached  at  least  three  classes  of  hearers :  those  who 
had  previously  made  confession  of  Jesus  Christ  as  their 
Saviour;    those  who  had  received  sound  instruction  in 


THE  EDINBURGH  WORK  115 

the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity,  but  had  not  felt 
called  upon  to  declare  their  faith  in  and  allegiance  to 
their  Saviour ;  and,  lastly,  those  whose  upbringing  in 
religious  matters  had  been  such  as  to  create  in  them 
a  prejudice  against  orthodox  Christianity,  a  prejudice 
rather  than  a  clearly  defined  and  intelligent  agnosticism. 
Upon  the  first  class,  generally,  Drummond's  message  had 
a  tonic  effect ;  more  than  ever  before,  these  men  realised 
that  it  was  an  honour  and  a  dignity  to  serve  Christ  in 
youth  and  manhood,  and  that  the  most  could  be  made  of 
life  in  "  out-and-out "  service  for  Him.  For  similar 
reasons,  those  of  the  second  class  hastened  to  declare  a 
faith  and  a  homage  which  had  only  required  the  stimulus 
of  desire  to  bring  it  into  being.  Men  of  the  third 
class,  we  fear,  imagined  that  they  were  adopting  a  new 
and  less  exacting  form  of  Christianity  when  they 
accepted  Drummond's  advice,  and  rose  to  their  feet  in 
witness  of  their  willingness  and  intention  to  "  go  in  for 
Christ."  Somewhat  like  the  soil  which  only  covered 
"  stony  ground,"  their  religious  consciousness  furnished 
no  room  for  the  growth  of  root,  and  in  course  of  time 
the  Christian  zeal  of  a  good  many  of  them  "  withered 
away."  We  are  convinced,  however,  that  the  percentage 
of  failures  which  followed  upon  Drummond's  efforts 
was  no  greater  than  that  which  attends  the  labours  of 
the  best  evangelists  of  the  most  orthodox  type;  and 
when  we  remember  the  difficult  class  to  which  the  men 
belonged,  we  wonder  exceedingly  at  the  splendid  and 
unique  work  that  he  was  enabled  to  do  in  this  great 
field. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Visits  to  America. 

IN  all,  Driimmond  paid  three  visits  to  North  America ; 
in  1879,  in  1887,  and  lastly  in  1893.  Although 
these  visits  occurred  at  considerable  intervals,  it  will  be 
sufficient,  for  our  purpose,  to  group  them  together  in 
this  chapter. 

In  1879  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  his  late 
teacher  in  Edinburgh  University,  Professor  Geikie 
(afterwards  Sir  Archibald  Geikie,  Director  -  General  of 
Her  Majesty's  Geological  Survey),  to  accompany  him  in 
a  short  trip  to  Western  North  America  for  the  pur- 
pose of  studying  the  volcanic  phenomena  which  exist  in 
and  around  the  region  of  the  Yellowstone  Park  in  the 
Eocky  Mountains.  Leaving  Scotland  on  the  last  day  in 
July,  the  scientists  made  all  speed  to  their  destination, 
where  they  spent  the  better  part  of  two  months  in 
gipsy  fashion,  camping  out  for  several  days  at  a  time, 
seeing  all  that  was  to  be  seen,  and  enjoying  the  sport 
which  the  abundance  of  wild  game  afforded.  It  is  un- 
necessary here  to  refer  at  greater  length  to  the  adventure 
and  research  of  this  unique  excursion,  as  Drummond's 
Journal  has  been  given  to  the  public,  and  may  be  perused 
by  those  who  have  peculiar  interest  in  such  matters. 
But,  on  the  eve  of  his  return  to  Scotland,  he  found  time 
to  pay  a  hurried  visit  to  his  old  friends,  Messrs.  Moody 
and  Sankey,  then  conducting  mission  work  at  Cleveland, 

ii6 


VISITS  TO  AMERICA  117 

Ohio ;  and  his  record  of  this  last  item  in  his  programme 
is  particularly  valuable,  in  its  witness  to  his  loyal  friend- 
ship for  these  evangelists,  and  to  his  unabated  devotion 
to  the  great  Evangel.  We  make  no  apology  for  quoting 
from  it,  at  some  length. 

"  Longfellow  the  poet,  Wendell  Holmes,  author  of  the 
inimitable  Autocrat,  or  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey  ? 
This  was  the  question  which  faced  me  some  weeks  ago 
as  I  sat,  time-table  in  hand,  in  an  hotel  in  Massachusetts, 
making  up  my  programme  for  a  last  week  in  America. 
I  had  been  wandering  among  the  solitudes  of  the  Eocky 
Mountains,  and  over  the  prairies  of  the  great  West  for 
the  last  two  months,  and  now  but  one  short  week  was 
left  before  my  steamer  sailed  for  home.  No  visit  to  the 
States  is  complete  without  a  pilgrimage  to  Boston ;  and 
I  had  made  my  way,  after  10,000  miles  of  travel,  to  the 
'hub  of  the  universe,'  the  great  centre  of  the  literary 
life  of  America.  It  was  the  city  of  Lowell,  and 
Longfellow,  and  Bryant,  and  Emerson,  and  Channing, 
and  Agassiz,  and  Holmes.  An  invitation  to  meet  the 
Laureate  and  Holmes  at  dinner  lay  before  me. 
Longfellow  I  had  learned  to  love  from  my  youth  up ; 
Holmes,  ever  since  the  mystery  of  the  three  Johns  and 
the  three  Toms  caught  my  schoolboy  fancy,  years  ago, 
had  been  to  me  a  mouth  and  wisdom.  And  naturally 
the  attraction  of  these  men  was  a  powerful  inducement 
to  me  to  spend  my  last  days  in  quiet  worship  at  shrines 
so  revered  and  beloved.  But  some  800  miles 
off,  away  by  Lake  Erie,  were  two  men  who  were 
more  to  me  than  philosopher  or  poet,  and  it  only 
required  a  moment's  thought  to  convince  me  that,  for  me 
at  least,  a  visit  to  America  would  be  much  more  than 
incomplete  without  a  visit  to  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr. 
Sankey.     It  was  hard,  I  must  say,  to  give  up  Longfellow, 


ii8  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

but  I  am  one  of  those  who  think  that  the  world  is  not 
dying  for  poets  so  much  as  for  preachers.  Eight  hundred 
miles  in  a  country  where  travelling  is  a  fine  art  are 
easily  disposed  of.     I  set  off  at  once.  .  .  . 

"  Neither  of  the  men  seemed  the  least  changed. 
Since  the  revival  days  in  the  Old  Country  both  had 
gone  through  prodigious  labour,  .  .  .  and  I  was  almost 
prepared  to  see  the  traces  somehow  marked  upon  their 
frames.  .  .  .  Yes,  there  they  were  before  me — the  same 
men,  not  changed  by  a  hair's-breadth — the  same  men : 
Mr.  Sankey,  down  to  the  faultless  set  of  his  black  neck- 
tie ;  Mr.  Moody,  to  the  chronic  crush  of  his  collar.  .  .  . 

"  I  can  scarcely  say  I  have  much  to  record  that 
would  be  in  itself  news.  For  my  own  part  I  am  glad 
of  this.  When  the  record  of  one  revival  is  like  another, 
I  am  satisfied.  We  do  not  want  anything  new  in 
revivals.  We  want  always  the  old  factors — the  living 
Spirit  of  God,  the  living  Word  of  God,  the  old  Gospel. 
We  want  crowds  coming  to  hear — crowds  made  up  of 
the  old  elements ;  perishing  men  and  women  finding 
their  way  to  prayer-meeting,  Bible-reading,  and  inquiry 
room.  These  were  all  to  be  seen  in  Cleveland.  It  was 
the  same  as  in  England  and  Scotland,  I  was  especially 
pleased  to  find  that  it  was  the  same  as  regards  quietness. 
I  had  expected  to  find  revival  work  in  America  more 
exciting ;  but  although  a  deep  work  was  beginning, 
everything  was  calm.  There  was  movement  but  no 
agitation ;  there  was  power  in  the  meetings  but  no 
frenzy.  And  the  secret  of  that  probably  lay  here,  that 
in  the  speaker  himself  there  was  earnestness  but  no 
bigotry,  and  enthusiasm  but  no  superstition.  .  .  . 

"  With  reference  to  the  plan  of  operations,  one  or 
two  things  struck  me.  Although  the  general  methods 
of  the  evangelists  remain  unchanged,  there  are  minor 
differences   in   detail.      These   refer    specially   to   place 


VISITS  TO  AMERICA  119 

and  time.  As  regards  the  former,  I  could  not  but  be 
struck  with  the  small  size  of  the  hall  in  which  the 
Cleveland  meetings  were  held.  In  itself  it  was  an 
immense  building;  but,  after  the  great  Bingley  Hall 
in  Birmingham,  the  Exhibition  Palace  in  Dublin,  and 
the  Agricultural,  Bow,  and  Camberwell  Halls  in  London, 
the  contrast  to  the  squat  wooden  building — with  its 
four  thousand  chairs  —  could  not  pass  unnoticed.  I 
was  always  under  the  impression  that  large  halls  were 
a  mistake.  Churches  of  moderate  size  have  been  known 
to  yield  equally  great  results,  as  tested  by  the  inquiry 
room,  with  large  halls ;  and  this  has  happened  so 
frequently  that  Mr.  Moody  will  probably  never  repeat 
the  experiment  of  having  tabernacles  erected  specially 
for  his  services.  He  is  at  present  drawn  more  towards 
the  line  of  working  among  the  Churches— spending  a 
long  time  in  one  place,  and  holding  services  in  the 
various  churches  in  succession.  The  first  prolonged 
experiment  which  determined  him  in  this  direction  was 
made  at  Baltimore  last  winter.  No  less  than  eight 
months  were  given  to  this  one  city,  and  the  result  was 
a  solid  and  permanent  work,  which  has  told  powerfully 
on  the  whole  community  and  entire  district.  .  .  ." 

Here  we  have  the  practical  missioner,  busying  himself 
with  questions  of  method  that  do  not  give  the  man  in 
the  street  a  moment's  concern.  And  when  we  remember 
that  Drummond  had  been,  only  a  few  days  before, 
devoting  himself  to  scientific  exploration,  and  enjoying 
the  free  open  life  of  the  Wild  West,  and  that  he  had 
made  opportunity  to  visit  Cleveland  at  the  sacrifice  of 
intercourse  with  Longfellow  and  Wendell  Holmes  (whom 
he  was  well  qualified  to  appreciate  at  their  highest 
value),  we  are  forced  to  recognise  again  the  distinguish- 
ing marks  of  the  "  born  evangelist." 


I20  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

In  the  interval  between  1879  and  1887,  when 
Drummond  again  visited  America,  much  had  happened. 
The  publication  of  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World 
had  familiarised  his  name  to  many  thousands  of  people 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada.  He  had 
been  in  Central  Africa,  and  had  since  published  his 
travel  volume.  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  had  been 
in  Great  Britain,  and  had  received  what  assistance  it 
was  in  his  power  to  give  them.  The  great  work  in 
Edinburgh,  so  closely  associated  with  his  name,  had 
now  been  going  on  long  enough  to  have  become  widely 
known  in  American  University  circles.  This  time  he 
came  and  was  welcomed  as  a  scientist  who  had  declared 
his  confidence  in  the  Christian  faith,  and  as  an  evan- 
gelical teacher  who  had  won  his  spurs  in  fields  where 
many  had  been  defeated.  This  time,  too,  he  crossed 
the  Atlantic  upon  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Moody. 

"  I  was  staying  with  a  party  of  friends  in  a  country 
house  during  my  visit  to  England  in  1884,"  Mr.  Moody 
has  written.  "  On  Sunday  evening,  as  we  sat  around  the 
fire,  they  asked  me  to  read  and  expound  some  portion  of 
Scripture.  Being  tired  after  the  services  of  the  day,  I 
told  them  to  ask  Henry  Drummond,  who  was  one  of 
the  party.  After  some  urging,  he  drew  a  small  Testa- 
ment from  his  hip  pocket,  opened  it  at  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  1  Corinthians,  and  began  to  speak  on  the 
subject  of  Love.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  had  never 
heard  anything  so  beautiful,  and  I  determined  not  to 
rest  until  I  brought  Henry  Drummond  to  Northfield  to 
deliver  that  address."  Mr.  Moody  here  referred  to  his 
seminaries  for  Christian  workers,  at  Northfield ;  but  in 
1886  he  had  been  led  into  work  for  the  University 
students  of  America,  and  had  organised  a  Summer  Con- 
ference at  Northfield  to  which  undergraduates  from 
some  eighty  of  these  have  yearly  flocked  since  1887. 


VISITS  TO  AMERICA  I2T 

Drummond  arrived  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  first 
of  these  "Students'  Conferences,"  in  July  1887,  con- 
tributing an  account  of  the  work  in  Edinburgh  Univer- 
sity, and  delivering  his  address  on  "  The  Greatest  Thing 
in  the  World,"  as  well  as  others  which  had  already 
proved  so  useful.  After  a  week's  effort  at  Northfield, 
and  a  short  time  spent  with  Lord  and  Lady  Aberdeen  at 
Niagara,  he  passed  on  to  take  part  in  two  Chautauquan 
Summer  Gatherings.  Suiting  himself  to  his  new 
audience,  he  discoursed  on  scientific  subjects,  lecturing 
upon  "  Mount  Etna,"  and  on  his  African  scientific 
observations,  and  again  he  succeeded  in  adjusting  him- 
self to  his  environment.  An  American  who  was  present 
at  Chautauqua  wrote  at  the  time : — "  Drummond  seems 
to  have  won  all  hearts.  In  a  world-wide  celebrity  his 
modesty  was  phenomenal.  His  is  unmarred.  Africa 
was  his  most  engaging  theme.  The  unfortunate  im- 
pression prevails  that  many  English  lights  have  been 
envious  of  American  gold,  Drummond  plainly  was 
indifi'erent  to  this.  It  is  said  that  when  offered  one 
hundred  dollars  at  Clifton  Springs  for  his  services,  he 
would  take  only  enough  of  it  to  pay  his  expenses  to  the 
next  station." 

In  Drummond's  opinion,  this  lecturing  system  was 
much  more  effective  in  America  than  it  was  in  Great 
Britain.  He  believed  that,  for  one  man  he  could  help 
by  lecturing  in  Great  Britain,  he  could  help  a  dozen 
or  a  score  in  America.  If  the  Americans  appreciated 
his  teaching,  there  were  many  elements  in  their  social 
and  business  life  that  appealed  to  him,  and  gained  hia 
enthusiastic  admiration.  He  felt  as  if  he  were  taking 
"  a  bath  of  life "  on  each  of  the  occasions  on  which  he 
visited  America ;  and  more  than  once  he  said  that  "  a 
nation  in  its  youth  was  a  stirring  spectacle." 

After  his  Chautauquan  lectures,  he  returned  to  North- 


122  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

field,  in  time  for  the  annual  Conference  of  Christian 
Workers,  which  has  been  a  famous  rendezvous  for  the 
English  -  speaking  world's  evangelists,  lay  and  clerical, 
since  its  inception  by  Mr.  Moody.  The  Conference 
extended  from  2nd  until  12th  August.  Again  he 
captivated  his  audiences,  and  his  addresses  "  formed  a 
prominent  feature."  "  The  easy,  cultivated,  and  de- 
liberate style  of  the  professional  lecturer  was  of  itself 
an  attraction ;  and  the  logical  methods  of  his  statements 
made  it  easy  to  follow  his  line  of  thought."  On  the 
eighth  day  of  the  Conference,  Drummond's  address — 
on  the  subject  of  Sanctification — suggested  themes  for 
following  speakers,  and  Dr.  Pierson  confessed  that  it 
had  "  lifted  them  about  as  high  as  they  had  been  at 
any  time  during  their  meetings."  At  this  point  the 
contemporary  journalistic  light  goes  out.  Drummond 
had  over-estimated  the  elasticity  of  the  imagination  of 
his  hearers.  Moody  was  besieged  by  applications  for 
the  suppression  of  this  arch  heretic ;  and,  for  the  time, 
his  usefulness  at  Northfield  was  in  eclipse. 

But  he  had  come  to  America  on  a  Students'  Holiday 
Mission  of  his  own,  and  from  Northfield  he  set  forth  to 
make  a  tour  of  the  principal  American  Universities, 
visiting  in  turn  Amherst,  Princeton,  Yale,  Harvard,  and 
Wellesley  Colleges,  and  winding  up  with  the  New  York 
medical  students.  In  this  effort  he  was  joined  by 
several  of  his  Edinburgh  workers.  Writing  home  at 
the  time,  he  alleged  that,  at  Yale,  the  graveyard  was 
the  only  uninhabited  spot  he  could  find.  He  told  of  a 
great  impression  left  at  Philadelphia,  of  large  and  in- 
creasing audiences,  and  of  the  laying  of  foundations  for 
permanent  work.  One  who  had  had  unique  opportunities 
for  seeing  the  American  colleges  and  student  life  wrote 
of  this  university  tour  of  Drummond's : — "  No  man  who 
has  visited  America  in  recent  years  has  brought  to  my 


VISITS  TO  AMERICA  123 

life  such  a  blessing  and  inspiration.  No  man  ever 
helped  me  to  so  fully  value  the  work  among  college 
men  which  I  had  chosen  years  before.  I  remember 
Dr.  M'Cosh's  glowing  account  of  his  visit  to  Princeton." 

The  prime  occasion  of  Drummond's  third  and  last 
visit  to  America  was  the  delivery  of  his  lectures  on 
"  The  Ascent  of  Man."  It  will  be  more  pertinent  to 
refer  to  that  in  a  later  chapter,  but  here  we  may  glance 
at  various  other  engagements  which  helped  to  fill  up  a 
busy  programme  between  the  beginning  of  March  and 
the  later  days  of  October  1893. 

After  completing  his  "  Ascent  of  Man "  lectures  in 
Boston — and  availing  himself  of  the  opportunity  for 
an  hour's  conversation  with  Dr.  Wendell  Holmes — 
Drummond  went  to  Harvard  College  and  delivered  a 
series  of  addresses  to  crowded  gatherings  of  the  under- 
graduates. Thence  he  passed  to  Amherst  College — 
which  had  previously  shown  its  appreciation  of  his  work 
by  conferring  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  upon  him — 
and  there  received  a  similarly  cordial  greeting.  In  May 
and  June  he  was  in  Chicago  and  its  neighbourhood, 
sightseeing  and  lecturing. 

In  July  he  joined  the  Summer  Gathering  at  Chau- 
tauqua. There  he  redelivered  his  "  Ascent  of  Man " 
lectures,  and  otherwise  contributed  to  the  programme. 
"  Besides  a  daily  lecture  on  some  phase  of  the  evolution 
of  man,  Professor  Drummond  has  on  several  days  made 
an  address  at  the  Eound  Table  of  the  Chautauqua 
Scientific  and  Literary  Cu-cle.  These  spontaneous  talks 
had  all  the  charm  of  easy  and  pleasant  conversations. 
His  quiet  disappearance  after  the  lectures,  at  times  not 
accomplished  until  a  fusilade  of  questions  has  been 
hurled,  has  been  amusing,"  According  to  the  con- 
temporary authority  from  whom  we  have  just  quoted, 


124  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Drummond  would  appear  to  have  had  some  opportunity 
for  definite  religious  teaching  at  Chautauqua,  as  mention 
is  made  of  his  vesper  address  on  "  The  Angelus,"  of 
which  a  little  Danish  nursemaid  told  that  it  was  the 
first  English  sermon  she  had  been  able  to  understand, 
and  she  had  understood  every  word. 

After  Chautauqua,  Northfield  claimed  his  help.  There 
he  joined  in  the  "  Students'  Conference,"  for  the  second 
time,  delivering  addresses  on  such  topics  as  "  Life  on  the 
Top  Floor,"  "  The  Kingdom  of  God  and  Your  Part  in  It," 
and  "  The  Three  Elements  of  a  Complete  Life."  But 
there  were  many  at  Northfield  who  had  taken  fright, 
and  although  he  retained  the  absolute  confidence  and 
warmest  personal  regard  of  Mr.  Moody,  Drummond  was 
glad  to  leave  a  comparatively  unsympathetic  environ- 
ment at  the  close  of  the  Conference.  Crossing  into 
Canada,  he  spent  the  months  of  August  and  September 
on  holiday  proper :  making  a  trip  to  Newfoundland  on 
a  torpedo-boat,  and  passing  the  latter  month  with  the 
Governor  -  General  of  Canada  and  Lady  Aberdeen  at 
their  of&cial  residence  in  Quebec. 

In  October  he  returned  to  Chicago  in  time  for  the 
opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  University,  and  for 
the  meetings  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  of  the  United 
States,  which,  in  that  year  (8th  to  14th  October)  took  the 
form  of  an  International  Christian  Conference  in  con- 
nection with  "  The  World's  Congress  Auxiliary  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition."  The  general  subject  of 
Conference  was  "  Christianity  practically  applied,"  and 
Drummond  made  several  contributions  to  its  delibera- 
tions. In  an  address  on  "  Christianity  and  the  Evolu- 
tion of  Society" — really  a  section  of  his  published 
address  on  "  The  Programme  of  Christianity  "  —  he 
claimed  that  while  Christ  did  not  give  men  religion,  He 
gave  them  new  and  large  and  practical  direction  for  the 


VISITS  TO  AMERICA  125 

religious  aspirations  bursting  forth  then  and  always  from 
the  whole  world's  heart :  that  Christ  came  here  to  make 
a  better  world ;  it  was  an  unfinished  world ;  it  was  not 
wise,  it  was  not  happy,  it  was  not  pure,  it  was  not  good, 
it  was  not  even  sanitary ;  humanity  was  little  more  than 
raw  material.  Christ's  immediate  work  was  to  enlist 
men  in  a  great  enterprise  for  the  evolution  of  the  world, 
rally  them  into  a  great  kingdom  or  society  for  the  carry- 
ing out  of  His  plans.  The  name  by  which  this  society 
was  known  was  The  Kingdom  of  God.  To  grow  up  in 
complacent  belief  that  God  had  no  business  in  this  great 
world  of  human  beings  except  to  attend  to  a  few  religious 
people  was  the  negation  of  all  religion.  Let  them  study 
the  social  progress  of  humanity,  the  spread  of  righteous- 
ness, the  gradual  amelioration  of  life,  the  freeing  of 
slaves,  the  elevation  of  women,  the  purification  of  re- 
ligion, and  let  them  ask  what  these  could  be  if  not  the 
coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  If  the  Church 
did  not  rise  to  its  opportunity,  it  would  be  left  behind. 
The  object  of  evangelical  Christianity,  he  said  upon 
another  occasion,  was  to  leaven  society  in  every  direc- 
tion— moral,  social,  and  even  political :  the  social  side  of 
Christianity  was  Christ's  side  of  Christianity.  In  con- 
ference upon  "  Athletics  as  a  means  of  reaching  Young 
Men,"  he  expressed  the  firm  conviction  that  there  was 
no  moral  educator  for  young  men,  and  especially  for 
young  boys,  better  than  athletics.  "  We  are  very  apt," 
he  said,  "  to  imagine  that  Christian  character  can  be 
built  up  by  reading  good  books  and  by  going  to  church. 
It  cannot.  One  gets  the  stimulus  there ;  but  the 
practice  is  found  in  the  experiences  of  life,  and  it  is  in 
the  experiences  of  the  playground  that  a  whole  host  of 
great  and  strong  virtues  are  introduced  into  a  young 
man's  character.  .  .  .  We  are  only  beginning  to  under- 
stand that  most  spiritual  things  are  introduced  into  the 


126  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

soul  by  material  instruments."  At  another  diet  of  the 
Conference,  Drummond  spoke  in  high  praise  of  the  Boys' 
Brigade  as  a  valuable  social  factor  in  work  among  the 
young.  We  shall  see  in  a  later  chapter  that  he  had 
taken  up  this  cause  with  great  interest  and  zeal.  On 
every  possible  occasion  in  the  course  of  his  1893  visit 
to  America  he  was  ready  to  speak  in  its  favour.  Of 
the  Chicago  Conference  it  only  remains  to  say  that  in 
Drummond's  opinion  it  secured  the  very  best  audiences. 
The  hall  was  packed  every  day  while  the  meetings 
lasted. 

As  soon  as  the  Conference  terminated,  he  set  out  for 
home,  and  arrived  in  Glasgow  in  November,  in  time 
to  resume  the  duties  of  his  chair,  at  the  commencemenii 
of  the  session. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

In  Austkalia  and  the  Fak  East. 

IT  is  the  peculiar  feature  of  the  Medical  School  in 
Edinburgh  University  that  it  attracts  students  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  to  its  classes.  There  is  always  a 
goodly  gathering  of  Colonials  in  each  year,  and  Australia 
is  never  unrepresented.  One  or  two  of  the  young 
Australians  were  among  the  workers  at  the  outset  of  the 
Students'  Movement ;  and  when  these,  with  others  who 
had  been  drawn  into  it  as  time  went  on,  returned  to  their 
homes  in  the  Antipodes,  they  carried  with  them  the  news 
of  "  Drummond's  meetings,"  and,  it  is  likely,  some  of  the 
Christian  enthusiasm  in  which  the  work  was  carried 
on.  Before  long  a  call  came  to  Drummond  to  visit  the 
Australian  Colleges.  There  was  some  idea  of  his  ac- 
complishing this  in  1888,  the  year  after  his  first  visit 
to  the  American  Universities,  but  it  was  not  until  1890 
that  he  was  able  to  devote  the  necessary  time  to  the 
work. 

In  that  year,  however,  he  planned  a  trip  round  the 
world,  with  the  principal  object  of  responding  to  the 
invitation  of  the  Australian  Colleges,  but  including  visits 
to  China  and  Japan,  and  completion  of  the  circuit  of  the 
globe  by  return  across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Canada,  and  the 
North  Atlantic. 

Setting  out  in  the  middle  of  March,  he  arrived  in 

Melbourne  in    the  latter  p^rt  of    April,  and   at    once 

127 


128  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

plunged  into  the  plans  and  beginnings  of  a  campaign  in 
Melbourne  University.  The  initial  steps  had  already 
been  taken  by  a  committee  of  the  students,  working  in 
concert  with  a  former  fellow-student  at  New  College,  the 
Kev.  John  F.  Ewing,  his  companion  on  deputation  work 
to  Sunderland  in  the  days  of  Mr.  Moody's  first  visit, 
afterwards  a  minister  in  Dundee  and  in  Glasgow,  and, 
at  the  time  of  which  we  write,  minister  of  Toorak 
Presbyterian  Church,  Melbourne. 

Mr.  Ewing  had  been  one  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Gaiety  Club,  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in 
an  earlier  chapter,  and  it  gave  peculiar  gratification  to 
Drumrnond  to  rejoin  him  in  work  on  the  other  side  of 
the  world,  and  even  to  live  under  the  same  roof.  But 
this  joy  was  short-lived.  He  had  been  scarcely  a  week 
in  Melbourne,  when  Mr.  Ewing  took  ill,  and,  after  a  few 
days'  suffering,  died.  Drumrnond  felt  the  blow  keenly, 
but  was  filled  with  "  a  sense  of  the  inscrutable  ways 
of  God "  when  he  realised  that  it  had  been  given  to 
him,  a  mere  passing  visitor  in  Australia,  to  stand  beside 
his  friend,  and  take  his  hand  as  he  passed  away.  He 
fulfilled  the  duties  of  chief  mourner  at  the  funeral,  and 
addressed  Mr.  Ewing's  bereaved  flock  upon  the  following 
Sunday. 

There  are  some  passages  in  his  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  his  dead  friend,  delivered  on  the  occasion  just  referred 
to,  that  may  be  quoted  here, — not  so  much  for  their 
bearing  on  the  lifework  of  Mr.  Ewing,  as  for  their 
unfolding  of  Drummond's  views  on  the  problem  raised 
by  the  abrupt  termination  of  a  useful  career ;  a  problem 
which  his  own  friends  were  called  upon  to  face,  in  his 
own  case,  only  seven  years  later. 

"  There  are  two  ways  in  which  a  workman  regards  his 
work — as  his  own  or  his  master's.     If  it  is  his  own,  then 


IN  AUSTRALIA  AND  THE  FAR  EAST       129 

to  leave  it  in  his  prime  is  a  catastrophe,  if  not  a  cruel 
and  unfathomable  wrong.  But  if  it  is  his  Master's,  one 
looks  not  backward,  but  before,  putting  by  the  well-worn 
tools  without  a  sigh,  and  expecting  elsewhere  better  work 
to  do.  So  he  '  suspected  it  was  in  the  will  of  God.'  We 
must  try  to  think  so  too.  Work  is  given  men  not  only, 
nor  so  much  perhaps,  because  the  world  needs  it.  Men 
make  work,  but  work  makes  men.  An  office  is  not  a 
place  for  making  money,  it  is  a  place  for  making  men. 
A  workshop  is  not  a  place  for  making  machinery,  for 
fitting  engines  and  turning  cylinders ;  it  is  a  place  for 
making  souls ;  for  fitting  in  the  virtues  to  one's  life ;  for 
turning  out  honest,  modest,  whole-natured  men.  So  it 
is  with  the  work  of  the  State  or  of  the  Church.  This  is 
why  it  never  hurries — because  it  is  as  much  for  the 
worker  as  for  the  work.  No  arrow  ever  goes  clear  to 
its  mark  in  God's  providence ;  no  river  runs  straight  to 
the  sea,  no  great  reform  works  directly  to  its  issue ;  no 
cause  is  won  at  once,  but  deviously.  .  .  .  For  providence 
cares  less  for  winning  causes  than  that  men,  whether 
losing  or  winning,  should  be  great  and  true ;  cares 
nothing  that  reforms  should  drag  their  course  from  year 
to  year  bewilderingly,  but  that  men  and  nations,  in 
carrying  them  out,  should  find  there,  education,  discipline, 
unselfishness,  and  growth  in  grace.  These  lessons  learned, 
the  workers  may  be  retired — not  because  the  cause  is 
won,  but  because  it  is  not  won ;  because  He  has  other 
servants,  some  at  lesser  tasks,  some  half  employed  or 
unemployed,  whom  He  must  needs  call  into  the  field. 
For  one  man  to  do  too  much  for  the  world  is  in  one 
sense  the  whole  world's  loss.  So,  it  may  be,  God  with- 
draws His  workers  even  when  their  hands  are  fullest 
and  their  souls  most  ripe :  to  fill  the  vacancies  with 
still  growing  men,  and  enrich  with  many  for  the  loss  of 
one.  I  do  not  propose  this,  even  as  an  explanation  of 
9 


I30  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

the  inexplicable  phenomenon,  which  startles  the  Church 
from  time  to  time,  as  one  and  another  of  its  noblest 
leaders  are  cut  down  in  the  flower  of  their  strength. 
But  when  our  thoughts  are  heavy  with  questions  of 
the  mysterious  ways  of  God,  it  keeps  reason  from 
reeling  from  its  throne  to  see  even  a  glimpse  of  any 
light. 

"  But  one  diverges  into  these  things  mainly  because  it 
is  easier  to  say  them  than  to  approach  any  nearer  to  the 
man  himself.  When  I  think  of  Mr.  Ewing's  work  and 
influence  here,  my  soul  fills  with  enthusiasm  and  gratitude 
for  my  friend.  Surely  few  men  have  ever  made  a  mark 
so  great  and  so  indelible  in  three  years  and  a  half.  .  .  . 
Three  and  a  half  years  ;  well,  it  was  the  same  as  Christ's. 
Perhaps,  even  in  this,  it  is  enough  for  the  servant  that  he 
be  as  his  Master.  .  .  . 

"  The  one  thing  about  his  personality  that  I  will 
record  is  this  (but  you  must  all  have  noticed  it),  that  his 
faults — and  they  were  so  petty  as  to  be  scarcely  more 
than  amusing — were  all  on  the  very  surface.  You  could 
not  have  known  him  three  minutes  without  finding  out 
them  all ;  but  you  might  know  him  three  years  without 
finding  out  any  more.  .  .  . 

"  Three  weeks  ago  to-day,  when  he  stood  here  and 
gave  us  the  last  Sunday  morning's  message  of  his  life, 
you  remember  he  preached  on  the  '  Atonement.'  He 
dwelt  upon  one  or  two  sides  of  that  stupendous  theme, 
and  promised  to  lay  before  us  a  further  aspect  on  a 
future  day.  I  am  not  sure  that  that  promise  is  unful- 
filled. Perhaps  what  he  meant  to  tell  us  was  that  the 
principle  of  the  Atonement  was  a  law  of  Nature.  That 
in  the  flower  living  to  die  for  the  fruit,  the  fruit  to  die 
for  the  seed,  the  seed  for  the  future  plant,  in  the  butter- 
fly living  to  die  for  its  young,  and  the  young  to  die  for 
the  bird,  and  the  bird  for  the  beast  of  prey — in  these, 


IN  AUSTRALIA  AND  THE  FAR  EAST       131 

up  and  down  the  whole  of  God's  creation,  the  one 
law  of  life,  the  supreme  condition  of  progress,  the  sole 
hope  of  the  future  is  Christ's  law  of  the  sacrijfice  of 
self.  If  that  were  his  meaning,  his  sermon  has 
been  surely  preached.  The  corn  of  wheat,  of  which 
he  spoke  to  us  that  day,  has  fallen  into  the  ground 
and  died." 

Before  his  return  to  Scotland,  Drummond  edited  a 
posthumous  volume  of  Mr.  Ewing's  sermons,  con- 
tributing an  introductory  memoir.  One  passage  in 
it,  we  think,  reveals  the  characteristics  of  that 
type  of  minister  which  he  considered  nearest  to  his 
ideal : — 

[At  College]  "  Mr.  Ewing  represented  that  newer  type 
of  '  divinity  student '  which  has  happily  become  more 
common  in  recent  years — a  type  in  which  without  any 
loss  to  professional  training,  or  any  cooling  of  the  con- 
secrated spirit,  the  candidate  for  the  noblest  of  all 
callings  finds  himself  first  of  all  called  to  be  the  noblest 
of  all  men  :  who  regards  the  Church  as  a  centre  from 
which  all  movements  are  to  radiate,  which  can  ameliorate 
and  elevate  the  world ;  as  the  most  practical  factor,  in 
fact,  in  that  wider  Kingdom  of  God,  whose  end  is  the 
progress  of  humanity  in  peace  and  righteousness.  Upper- 
most, therefore,  with  him  was  the  study  of  all  the 
movements  of  men,  and  the  phases  of  human  life  and 
character.  His  interests,  though  not  untheological,  were 
rather  in  the  direction  of  applied  Christianity." 

Of  the  work  among  students  in  Melbourne,  Drummond 
wrote  at  the  time :  "  The  meetings  have  not  been  in 
vain.  Holidays  are  on  for  the  next  ten  days,  and  I 
start  for  Adelaide,  550  miles  off,  to  fill  up  the    time 


132  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

at  the  University  there.  Then  I  return  here,  and  go  at 
it  every  night."  Later,  he  passed  on  to  Sydney,  or 
"  How-do-you-like-our-Harbour  ? "  as  he  humorously 
dubbed  it,  receiving  there  an  equally  cordial  welcome 
from  students  and  teachers.  With  his  meetings  in 
Sydney  his  effort  among  the  Australian  students  was 
brought  to  a  close.  He  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
what  promised  to  become  permanent  organisations  for 
the  religious  welfare  of  the  undergraduates  successfully 
inaugurated  in  both  Melbourne  and  Sydney.  He  had 
much  personal  work  in  dealing  with  the  cases  of 
individuals,  and  even  after  he  had  returned  to  Scotland 
he  continued  to  receive  letters  from  young  Australians 
who  sought  his  counsel  and  help  in  matters  of  spiritual 
concern. 

From  Sydney  he  made  an  unpremeditated  voyage  to 
the  New  Hebrides  and  back,  and  also  a  trip  to  Queens- 
land. Of  these  divagations  we  shall  speak  in  a  succeeding 
chapter.  Eeturning  to  Sydney  for  the  last  time,  he 
sailed  for  the  Malay  Archipelago  and  Java,  and  thence 
made  his  way  to  Hong-Kong  and  Shanghai.  He  nearly 
encountered  a  typhoon  in  his  passage  from  Saigon  to 
Hong-Kong.  "  Talking  of  barometers,"  he  wrote  pictur- 
esquely, "  ours  went  down  to  its  stocking-soles  on  Monday, 
and  muttered  '  Typhoon.'  Three  telegrams  from  Manilla 
and  Hong-Kong  had  already  warned  us  at  Saigon  that 
the  monster  was  loose  somewhere.  The  sea  raged,  but 
there  was  no  wind ;  weary  birds  flew  on  board ;  it 
looked  bad.  The  engines  were  stopped,  and  we  wallowed 
all  day  in  suspense.  At  midnight  the  glass  crept  up 
a  line,  and  we  steamed  ahead.  In  a  few  hours  we  found 
its  trail  on  the  sea,  but  it  had  passed  on  to  the  North. 
For  thirty-six  hours  we  have  been  crossing  its  path  in 
much  discomfort;  but  one  is  glad  to  escape  with 
this." 


IN  AUSTRALIA  AND  THE  FAR  EAST        133 

Drummond  would  not  appear  to  have  seen,  or  attempted 
to  see,  much  m  China ;  but  in  Japan  he  was  fascinated, 
and  experienced  one  of  the  strongest  impulses  he  had 
ever  felt.  So  enthusiastic  was  the  welcome  he  received 
from  the  educated  natives,  he  seriously  entertained  the 
idea  of  devoting  his  whole  life  to  the  evangelisation  of 
Japan.  There,  too,  the  native  taste  for  art  greatly- 
impressed  him,  and  in  after  days,  in  enforcing  the  need 
for  beauty  in  common  life,  he  was  wont  to  make  an 
object-lesson  of  Japan,  where  the  meanest  household 
utensils,  he  had  noticed,  were  fashioned  with  an  eye 
for  art. 

On  his  return  to  Scotland  he  delivered  in  Glasgow 
and  in  Edinburgh  an  address  on  "  The  Problem  of  Foreign 
Missions,"  and  in  this  he  arranged  and  formulated  the 
results  of  his  observations  during  his  tour.  This 
address  has  been  published  since  his  death  {The  New 
Evangelism,  pp.  121—149),  and  is  well  worthy  of  the 
study  of  those  who  take  special  interest  in  the  subject 
of  missions.  A  few  characteristic  extracts  may  be 
noted  here : — 

"  Nothing  ought  to  be  kept  more  persistently  before 
the  mind  of  those  who  are  open  to  serve  the  world  as 
missionaries  than  the  great  complexity  of  the  missionary 
problem ;  and  nothing  more  strikes  one  who  goes  round 
the  world  than  the  amazing  variety  of  work  required 
and  the  almost  radical  differences  among  the  various 
mission  fields.  .  .  . 

"  To  every  land  [the  missionary]  must  take,  not  the 
general  list  of  agricultural  implements  furnished  by  his 
College,  but  one  or  two  of  special  make  which  possibly 
his  College  has  never  heard  of.  Above  all,  when  he 
reaches  his  field,  his  duty  is  to  find  out  what  God  has 
grown  there  already,  for  there  is  no  field  in  the  world 


134  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

where  the  Great  Husbandman  has  not  sown  something. 
Instead  of  uprooting  his  Maker's  work,  and  clearing  the 
field  of  all  the  plants  that  found  no  place  in  his  small 
European  herbarium,  he  will  rather  water  the  growths 
already  there,  and  continue  the  work  at  the  point  where 
the  Spirit  of  God  is  already  moving.  .  .  . 

"  I.  Australia.  The  missionary  problem,  or  the  mission 
churches  problem,  in  these  colonies  is  to  deal  with  a 
civilised  people  undergoing  abnormally  rapid  development. 
Australia  is  a  case  of  prodigiously  active  growth  in  a 
few  directions,  under  most  favourable  natural  conditions 
for  nation-making.  .  .  .  The  orderly  progress  here  is 
complicated  mainly  by  one  thing, — a  continuous  accretion 
of  outside  elements, — due  to  immigration — which  creates 
difficulties  in  assimilation.  The  chief  problem  of 
Christianity  is  to  keep  pace  with  the  continuous  growth ; 
the  immediate  peril  is  that  it  may  be  wholly  ignored 
in  the  pressure  of  competing  growths. 

"  II.  The  South  Sea,  Islands,  of  which  the  New 
Hebrides  are  a  type,  lie  exactly  at  the  opposite  end  of 
the  scale.  Growth,  so  far  from  being  active,  has  not 
even  begun.  Here  are  no  nations,  scarcely  even  tribes. 
The  first  step  in  evolution,  aggregation,  has  not  yet 
taken  place.  .  .  . 

"  III.  China.  Midwa}^  between  the  South  Sea  Islands 
and  the  Australian  Colonies,  this  nation,  as  everyone 
knows,  is  an  instance  of  arrested  development.  On  the 
fair  way  to  become  a  higher  vertebrate,  it  has  stopped 
short  at  the  crustacean.  There  are  two  complications  :  the 
amazing  strength  of  the  ekoskeleton — the  external  shell 
of  custom  and  tradition,  so  hardened  by  the  deposits 
of  centuries  as  to  make  the  evolutionist's  demand  for 
mobility,  i.e.  for  capacity  to  change,  almost  non-existent. 
Secondly,  which  directly  concerns  Christianity,  there  is 
a  very  powerful  religion  already  in  possession.     These 


IN  AUSTRALIA  AND  THE  FAR  EAST       135 

two  complications  make  the  missionary  problem  in  China 
one  of  the  most  delicate  in  the  world. 

"  IV.  If  the  South  Sea  Islands  are  the  opposite  of 
Australia,  China,  in  turn,  finds  its  almost  perfect  contrast 
in  Japan.  One  with  it  in  stagnation  and  isolation  from 
external  influences  during  three  thousand  years,  almost 
within  the  last  hour  Japan  has  broken  what  Mr. 
Bagehot  calls  its  '  cake  of  custom,'  and  so  sudden  and 
mature  has  already  been  its  development  that  it  is,  at 
this  moment,  demanding  from  the  Powers  of  Europe 
political  recognition  as  one  of  the  civilised  nations  of 
the  world.  This  is  an  entirely  different  case  from  any 
of  the  preceding.  It  is  the  insect  emerging  from  the 
chrysalis.  From  the  Christian  standpoint,  the  case  is 
unique  in  history.  .  .  . 

"  Leaving  the  present  machinery  to  the  good  work  it 
is  doing  among  the  poor,  I  would  join  with  the  best  of 
the  missionaries  in  arguing  for  a  few  Eabbis  to  be  sent 
to  China,  or  to  be  picked  from  our  fine  scholars  already 
there,  who  would  quietly  reconnoitre  the  whole  situation, 
and  shape  the  teaching  of  the  country  along  well- 
considered  lines  —  men,  especially,  who  would  lay 
themselves  out,  through  education,  lectures,  preach- 
ing, and  literature,  to  reach  the  intellect  of  the 
Empire.  .  .  . 

"  The  Church's  problem  in  that  colossal  continent 
[Australia] — you  are  aware  it  is  as  big  as  Europe — is 
to  establish  the  new  civilisation  in  truth  and  righteousness. 
,  .  .  Two  kinds  of  ministers  are  required  to  be  directly 
or  indirectly  the  leaders  of  this  work. 

"(1)  Men  of  the  highest  culture  and  ability  as 
ministers  for  the  large  towns ;  men  who  are  preachers 
and  students.  There  is  no  more  influential  sphere  in 
the  world  than  that  open  to  a  cultured  preacher  in  one 
of  the  capital  cities  of  Australia.  .  .  . 


136  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

"  (2)  The  second  kind  of  man  that  is  wanted,  and  he 
is  wanted  not  by  the  dozen,  but  by  the  score,  is  the 
bush  minister.  This  man  must  be  a  man ;  he  must  be 
ready,  and  adaptable ;  he  may  be  as  unprofessional  as 
he  pleases,  but  he  must  be  a  Christian  gentleman." 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

South  Sea  Problems. 

"  nriHE  New  Hebrides  are  a  group  of  small  islands,  a 
J-  few  about  the  size  of  Arran,  a  very  few  others 
two  or  three  times  as  large,  the  whole  of  no  geographical 
importance.  They  are  peopled  by  beings  of  the  lowest 
type  to  the  number  of  probably  not  more  than  50,000  ; 
so  that  they  are  of  no  political  importance.  This  does 
not  refer  to  the  islands  but  the  people.  The  islands 
themselves  are  of  so  great  political  importance  at  the 
present  moment  that  the  allegiance  of  Australia  to 
England  would  tremble  in  the  balance  if  there  were 
any  suspicion  that  the  Home  Government  would  hand 
them  over  to  France."  These  words  are  taken  from 
Drummond's  address  on  "  The  Problem  of  Foreifi^n 
Missions,"  delivered  in  1890,  on  his  return  to  Scotland. 
He  never  made  any  secret  of  the  fact  that  his  principal 
object  in  visiting  the  Islands  in  June  and  July  1890  was 
the  investigation  of  their  political  value,  undertaken  at 
the  urgent  request  of  Australian  statesmen  who  wished 
to  have  the  benefit  of  his  opinion  in  making  represent- 
ations to  the  Home  Government,  It  is  now  known  that 
Britain  and  France  have  since  agreed  to  recognise  the 
political  independence  of  the  Islands. 

A  secondary  object  of  his  visit  to  the  Islands,  and, 
subsequently,  to  Queensland,  was  to  make  inquiry  into 
what  is  known  as  the  Kanaka  traffic,  a  system  whereby 


138  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

natives  of  the  South  Sea  Islands  are  deported  to 
Queensland  to  act  as  labourers  on  the  tropical  sugar 
plantations  there,  under  conditions  which  were  at  the 
time  objected  to  by  some  people,  upon  the  ground  that 
they  were  conceived  with  too  little  regard  for  the  rights 
of  the  individual  native.  Drummond's  valuable  opinion 
on  this  subject  is  clearly  set  forth  in  an  "  interview " 
with  a  representative  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  published 
in  that  journal  on  18th  May  1892.  From  this  we 
make  the  following  exhaustive  quotations : — 

" '  The  full  meaning  of  this  question,'  said  Professor 
Drummond,  '  is  probably  not  fully  realised  in  England, 
except  by  those  who  have  had  the  opportunity  of  study- 
ing it  in  Queensland.  Below  the  surface  of  it  there  lies 
a  story  with  a  world  of  interest.  It  has  its  deep  pathos 
and  it  has  also  its  bright  side.  But  the  question  of 
continuing  the  labour  traffic  with  Polynesia  is  an 
anthropological  rather  than  an  economic  question.  Try 
to  realise  the  situation.  Here  you  have  hundreds  of 
islands  inhabited  mainly  by  cannibals.  They  are  utterly 
uncivilised,  and  indeed,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  condition 
in  which  Captain  Cook  first  found  them.  Except  for  a 
handful  of  heroic  missionaries,  a  white  man  hardly  ever 
steps  ashore  among  them.  There  they  are,  doing  no 
work,  sitting  all  day  long  under  their  palm  trees,  and 
living  the  life  of  savages  and  cannibals,  except  in  the 
few  cases  where  the  patient  labours  of  the  missionary 
have  had  some  civilising  and  softening  influence.  They 
know  nothing  of  the  outside  world.  No  vessel,  possibly, 
has  ever  touched  their  shores,  and  the  only  white  man's 
face  they  have  ever  seen  is  that  of  their  missionary. 
Then,  one  day,  a  vessel  arrives,  and  a  boat  is  lowered 
filled  with  armed  men  and  steers  for  the  island.  These 
armed  men  are  the  traders  who  have  come  to  engage 


SOUTH  SEA  PROBLEMS  139 

labour.  It  also  lands  a  Government  agent,  whose  duty 
it  is  to  see  that  matters  are  arranged  humanely  and  on 
fair  terms.  This  boat  is  followed  by  another  carrying  a 
further  bodyguard,  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  covering  the 
first  boat  with  their  rifles  at  a  short  distance.  The 
Kanaka  is  easily  persuaded  to  engage  to  accompany  the 
trader  for  a  term  of  years,  when  a  few  sticks  of  tobacco, 
a  gun,  or  some  other  toy  is  put  into  his  hands  as  a 
present.  When,  a  few  days  later  on,  the  vessel  leaves 
the  island,  it  carries  the  flower  of  the  population  away 
with  it.  There  are,  happily,  a  good  many  islands  on 
which  the  unwearied  work  of  the  missionaries  has  borne 
fruit,  where  the  natives  are  docile  and  industrious ;  but 
there  are  many  others  on  which  this  is  not  the  case. 
For  an  unarmed  man  to  land  would  be  certain  death.' 

"  *  Have  they  a  common  language  ? '  — '  No  ;  the 
dialects  are  innumerable  on  these  island  groups,  and 
it  is,  indeed,  not  infrequently  the  case  that  several 
almost  distinct  languages  are  spoken  on  the  same 
island.  Each  dialect  differs  widely  from  the  rest,  and 
each  is  only  understood  by  a  handful  of  natives.  On 
the  island  of  Eromanga,  which  I  visited  the  year  before 
last,  the  first  missionary  who  came  was  murdered  by  the 
natives  ten  minutes  after  he  went  ashore.  The  second 
also  was  murdered,  and  several  after  him.  But  the 
work  was  not,  therefore,  given  up,  for  the  missionaries 
will  not  be  kept  back,  and  now  the  missionary  whom  I 
found  there  has  been  at  his  post  for  thirty  years.  There 
is  a  church  on  the  island,  and  the  Kanakas  live  peacefully 
together.  Can  you  wonder  at  the  missionaries  protesting 
when  some  day  they  wake  up  to  find  that  the  pick  of 
their  young  men  have  left  their  island  and  gone  to  the 
sugar  plantations  in  Queensland  ? ' 

" '  Then,  Professor  Drummond,  do  I  understand  that 
you  sympathise  with  the  outcry  against  the  importation 


I40  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

of  the  Kanakas  into  Queensland  ? ' — '  Not  exactly.  .  .  . 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  question  on  which  there  is  so 
much  to  be  said  on  both  sides  that  I  should  not  like  to 
speak  too  definitely.  What  I  have  told  you  is  a  matter 
of  information,  not  of  opinion.  On  the  whole,  this  is 
not  a  problem  peculiar  to  the  Pacific.  Wherever  the 
white  man  comes  into  contact  with  the  black,  wherever 
the  product  of  civilisation  has  to  deal  with  the  child  of 
nature,  the  same  class  of  difficulties  arises.  To  keep 
these  happy  children  to  their  own  coral  islands  and  cut 
them  off  from  the  contamination  of  civilisation  may  be 
a  pardonable  ideal  to  the  missionary.  But  it  is  a 
question  whether  such  a  state  of  things  is  possible,  or 
possible  long.  Sooner  or  later  the  breath  of  the  outer 
world  must  reach  them.  In  too  many  cases  it  has 
reached  them  already.  They  must  brace  themselves 
for  the  contact.  The  drafting  of  successive  bands  of 
natives  to  a  civilised  country  for  a  term  of  years  and 
then  shipping  them  back  again  to  their  own  island — as 
the  labour-employer  is  bound  to  do — might  become  an 
important  factor  in  the  progress  of  these  races.  Every- 
thing would  depend  on  the  treatment  they  received  and 
the  moral  atmosphere  which  surrounded  them.  The 
Queensland  Government  has  certainly  left  no  stone 
unturned  to  secure  that:  so  far  as  legal  enactment  can 
protect  an  inferior  race,  the  Kanakas  are  safe  on 
Australian  soil  from  any  possible  tyranny,  violence,  or 
even  physical  discomfort.  If  it  could  also  secure  that 
the  planter  would  do  his  duty,  and  feel  an  adequate 
responsibility  with  regard  to  his  employees,  there  would 
be  no  righteous  opposition  to  the  labour  traffic.  The 
question,  therefore,  reduces  itself  to  the  universal  moral 
problem.  Given  the  ideal  employer,  the  man  who  will 
protect  his  people  from  moral  contamination,  who  will 
Beek  their  good  and  interest  as  well  as  his  own,  and 


SOUTH  SEA  PROBLEMS  141 

return  them  to  their  country  wiser  and  better  men,  and 
with  some  rational  equivalent  for  the  labour  they  have 
given — then  this  traffic  can  do  nothing  but  good.  Nor 
is  it  idle  to  hope  that  one  day  this  ideal  may  be  partially 
realised.  I  admit  there  is  small  appearance  of  it  at 
this  moment  in  Queensland.  But  there  is  a  beginning. 
It  is  a  simple  fact  that — with  many  facts  and,  I  fear, 
deplorable  facts,  on  the  other  side — in  several  cases  the 
Kanakas  have  been  improved  by  their  residence  in 
Australia. 

"  '  When  the  relations  between  employer  and  employed 
are  perfect  at  home,  it  will  be  time  to  use  the  moral 
argument  as  final  against  the  Kanaka  exodus  to  Queens- 
land. The  world  must  go  on.  The  labour  markets  must 
adjust  themselves.  If  it  is  inevitable  that  this  human 
stream  from  the  Pacific  should  continue  to  discharge 
itself  upon  Australian  soil,  one  very  practical  thing 
remains  for  those  who  have  raised  their  voices  against 
it — to  turn  every  energy  to  secure  henceforth  the 
righteous  fulfilment  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
Kanaka  is  engaged,  and  especially  to  ameliorate  his  lot, 
and  give  to  it  that  educational  and  moral  value  which 
humanity  and  Christianity  demand.  More  than  ever  it 
must  be  made  certain  that  the  Government  agent  on 
board  the  labour  schooner  will  resist  the  temptation  to 
play  into  the  hands  of  the  employers,  and  make  it 
certain  that  in  each  individual  case  the  terms  of  the 
contract  are  fully  understood  by  the  natives  whose 
services  are  enlisted.  The  plantations  themselves  must 
be  protected  from  the  illicit  drink-seller ;  and  educational 
and  missionary  work  among  the  colonies  of  workers 
ought  to  be  everywhere  introduced.  If  this  were  done, 
and  done  effectually,  the  return  of  the  Kanaka  to  his 
island  home  would  mean  something  vital  in  social  and 
moral  influence  for  his  race.     At  present,  though   the 


142  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Kanakas  are  thoroughly  well  treated  by  their  masters — 
on  the  mere  ground  of  economy  this  is  necessary, 
Kanaka  labour  being  far  too  costly  to  be  trifled  with — 
it  is  questionable  whether  they  gain  anything  by  their 
absence,  either  morally  or  materially.  Their  hard- 
earned  wages  they  cannot  take  back  with  them  in  coin, 
since  money  is  almost  unknown  in  Polynesia.  What 
they  do  take  back  is  usually  a  lot  of  rubbish,  purchased  in 
Brisbane  at  fancy  prices,  to  be  distributed  among  their 
brother- savages  as  presents.  This,  it  must  be  confessed, 
is  a  poor  show  for  three  or  four  years'  work  among  the 
cane-brakes. 

" '  On  thinking  over  this  whole  question  it  is  impossible 
not  to  compare  the  action  of  the  Queensland  Government, 
where  the  Kanakas  are  concerned,  with  their  treatment 
of  their  own  natives.  The  comparison  is  all  in  favour  of 
the  Kanakas.  The  Queensland  natives  are  treated  as 
veritable  outcasts.  They  are  not  employed ;  they  are 
driven  away  from  the  towns  and  settlements,  and  their 
lives  in  certain  districts  are  freely  taken  on  the  smallest 
provocation,  and  no  questions  asked.  Let  the  Queens- 
land Government  see  to  these  outcasts ;  it  is  there 
where  the  grievance  lies,  far  more  than  in  the  import- 
ation of  the  Kanakas.' " 

Without  the  co-operation  of  the  missionaries  on  the 
New  Hebrides,  even  had  he  willed  otherwise,  Drummond 
could  not  well  have  obtained  the  information  he  sought. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  these  Islands  were  the  scenes 
of  the  labours  and  martyrdom  of  Williams,  and  that 
they  include  the  sphere  within  which  Dr.  J.  G.  Paton 
has  experienced  the  thrilling  adventures  narrated  in  his 
autobiography.  Supported  by  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
of  Canada,  Victoria,  New  South  Wales,  South  Australia, 
Tasmania,  New  Zealand  and  Otago,  as  well  as  by  the 


SOUTH  SEA  PROBLEMS  143 

Free  Church  of  Scotland,  a  little  band  of  twenty-five 
men  and  women  have  consecrated  their  lives  to  the 
evangelisation  of  the  natives  of  this  group  of  islands,  and 
are  almost  the  only  civilised  inhabitants  to  be  found 
within  their  limits.  These  missionaries  extended  a  hearty 
welcome  to  Drummond,  and  afforded  him  every  facility 
in  their  power. 

Under  their  auspices,  he  came  into  touch  with  the 
natives.  "  On  Mr.  Paton's  Tanna,  and  saw  all  his 
painted  cannibals,"  he  wrote  home.  "  But  for  the 
missionary  with  me,  I  should  now  be — inside  them." 
We  get  this  story  more  fully  in  his  address  on  missions, 
"  Sailing  along  Tanna,  I  tried  to  land  near  Mr.  Paton's 
deserted  field.  With  me  was  one  of  the  missionaries 
who  has  now  gained  a  footing  on  another  part  of  that 
still  cannibal  island.  As  we  neared  the  shore,  a  hundred 
painted  savages  poured  from  out  of  the  woods,  and 
prepared  to  fire  upon  us  with  their  guns  and  poisoned 
arrows.  But  the  missionary  stood  up  in  the  bow  of  the 
boat  and  spoke  two  words  to  them  in  their  native 
tongue.  Instantly  every  gun  was  laid  upon  the  beach, 
and  they  rushed  into  the  surf  to  welcome  us  ashore. 
No  other  unarmed  man  on  this  earth  could  have  landed 
there." 

On  another  island,  where  the  missionary,  but  two 
years  previously,  had  been  wont  to  see  from  his  doorstep 
the  smoke  of  the  cannibal  feasts,  the  natives  brought 
Drummond  their  spears  and  bows  and  poisoned  arrows. 
"  We  do  not  need  them  now,"  they  said  ;  "  the  missionary 
has  taught  us  not  to  kill."  His  admiration  of  these 
missionaries  was  unlimited.  "  No  grander  missionary 
work  was  ever  done  than  by  these  New  Hebrides 
missionaries.  Every  man  is  a  king."  "  I  have  no 
words  to  express  my  admiration  for  these  men,  and,  I 
may  say,  their  wives,  their  even  more  heroic  wives ;  they 


144  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

are  perfect  missiDnaries ;  their  toil  has  paid  a  hundred 
times ;  and  I  count  it  one  of  the  privileges  of  my  life  to 
have  been  one  of  the  few  eye-witnesses  of  their  work," 
"  People  tell  us,"  he  said,  "  that  the  race  for  whom  our 
missionaries  are  thus  giving  their  toil,  their  talents,  their 
life,  is  a  decaying  race,  and  that  in  fifty  years  not  one  of 
them  will  be  left — that  I  consider  the  noblest  example 
of  the  sacrifice  of  Christ." 

Drummond's  Journal  of  his  experiences  in  the  New 
Hebrides  has  been  published.  In  literary  method  it 
reminds  us  forcibly  of  the  elliptical  style  of  Mr,  Alfred 
Jingle,  but  it  affords  a  first-hand  picture  of  these  coral 
islands  and  their  inhabitants.  The  excursions  yielded 
some  opportunities,  too,  for  scientific  research.  At  the 
time,  one  of  the  missionaries  wrote :  "  On  the  way  north 
from  Aneityum,  we  had  the  genial  company  of  Professor 
Henry  Drummond,  and  got  a  hurried  trip  to  the  Volcano 
on  Tanna  arranged,  which  he  enjoyed  immensely.  He 
says  that  Vesuvius  is  nothing  to  it.  We  had  a 
photographer  from  Melbourne  in  our  company,  and  he 
took  two  or  three  views  of  the  crater.  Just  as  a  group 
who  were  being  photographed  had  risen,  and  we  were 
starting  to  descend,  a  good  large  block  of  burning  scoria 
came  flop  down,  just  on  the  spot  where  the  group  had 
been  sitting.  The  Professor  rushed  to  see  it,  with 
staring  eyes  and  extended  hands,  but  it  was  too  hot  to 
meddle  with;  so  he  warmed  his  hands  at  it,  burnt  a 
biscuit  on  it,  and  finished  up  with  lighting  his  cigar 
at  it." 

Drummond  was  wont  to  say  that  travel  always  gave 
the  individual  an  immensely  bigger  environment  to 
think  in.  This  voyage  to  the  New  Hebrides  must  have 
made  a  considerable  addition  to  his  own  intellectual 
environment. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

His  Booklets. 

"VrO  one  could  attain  the  success  which  Drummond 
-^^  achieved  in  his  evangelism,  without  becoming  the 
object  of  much  popular  curiosity,  and  being  sought  after 
by  the  organisers  of  religious  efforts  and  demonstrations 
of  all  sorts.  But  he  steadfastly  refused  to  be  "  lionised," 
or  even  to  aid  in  work  among  classes  and  along  lines 
which  did  not  immediately  appeal  to  him.  The  members 
of  the  general  public  were  rigorously  excluded  from  his 
Students'  Meetings,  and  he  would  only  appear  on  a  plat- 
form to  support  the  claims  of  one  or  other  of  the 
limited  number  of  special  causes  to  which  he  felt  called 
to  devote  himself.  To  one  application  for  his  assistance 
he  replied : — "  I  have  never  had  time  to  make  a  speciality 
of  Temperance,  and  am  quite  unable  to  lecture  on  the 
subject.  You  will  get  the  thing  so  much  better  done 
otherwise  that  I  am  sure  you  will  excuse  me."  To  the 
Kev.  W.  J.  Dawson,  in  response  to  a  request  that  he 
would  give  an  address  to  business  men,  he  sent  the 
laconic  reply : — "  I  do  not  know  the  species." 

But,  in  the  end,  the  people  who  thirsted  to  know 
what  it  was  that  he  really  said  to  the  students,  received 
some  satisfaction  when  he  published  his  Booklets.  Even 
this  concession  was  wrung  from  him.  He  had  no  desire 
to  publish  his  addresses,  but  erroneous  and  garbled 
versions  of  these  began  to  appear  in  the  public  prints, 

lO 


146  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

and  he  was  constrained  to  give  them  to  the  world  at 
first  hand,  in  self  -  defence.  By  means  of  this  new 
medium,  the  influence  of  his  Christian  teaching  became 
European,  and  even  world-wide,  and  the  enormous  circu- 
lation which  the  booklets  rapidly  secured  was  in  itself 
a  witness  that  his  presentment  of  Christian  truth  had 
received  a  hungry  welcome. 

To  the  preparation  of  the  booklets  for  the  press, 
Drummond  gave  the  greatest  possible  care.  They  were 
no  mere  reprints  of  stenographic  notes.  In  this,  as  in 
all  his  literary  work,  his  method  was  very  much  that  of 
Eobert  Louis  Stevenson.  "  It  was  a  sight  to  see  him 
revise  a  manuscript,  correcting  and  correcting,  as  if  he 
never  could  satisfy  himself.  He  would  spend  half  an 
hour  over  an  adjective.  He  was  not  a  quick  worker, 
except  in  his  thinking,  which  came  by  intuition."  "  A 
Nineteenth  Century  article,"  he  once  humorously  told  a 
friend,  "  should  be  written  at  least  three  times — once  in 
simplicity,  once  in  profundity,  and  once  to  make  the 
profundity  appear  simplicity."  His  great  aim  was  to 
be  lucid.  Waving  his  hand  one  evening  towards  some 
well- filled  shelves  in  his  study,  he  ejaculated — "All 
these  books  are  supposed  to  be  more  or  less  popular 
works  on  science,  and  there  is  not  a  lucid  statement  in 
them."  Nor  was  his  labour  in  vain ;  he  mastered  a 
characteristic  literary  style,  felicitous  in  its  phrasing, 
lucid  in  its  seeming  simplicity,  telling  in  its  directness. 

If  he  was  painstaking  in  the  literary  expression  of 
his  writings,  he  was  in  equal  degree  fastidious  in  regard 
to  their  published  form.  His  first  booklet  was  set  up 
twice.  He  did  not  like  the  format  of  the  original  print, 
and,  without  selling  a  copy,  carried  the  work  to  another 
printer,  and  took  the  trouble  to  see  him  personally  in 
order  that  he  might  discuss  the  "  page "  and  other 
details.      The  Greatest  Thing  in  the    World  was  expen- 


HIS  BOOKLETS  147 

sively  got  up,  printed  on  deckle-edged  paper,  bound 
in  white  covers,  and  gilt  tops,  all  in  conformity  with 
Drummond's  own  individual  taste  and  instructions. 
To  illustrate  his  extreme  carefulness  in  these  matters, 
we  may  mention  that  a  page  of  printing  in  one  of  his 
books,  discovered  to  be  faulty,  had  to  be  set  right,  even 
at  a  cost  of  £20. 

The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World  was  issued  at  Christ- 
mas, 1889.  The  idea  of  a  "Christmas  Card"  in  this 
form  caught  the  public  fancy,  title  and  get-up  were 
attractive,  thousands  were  thii'sting  to  make  acquaint- 
ance with  Drummond's  charms  as  a  religious  teacher. 
Its  sale  was  perfectly  unprecedented.  Within  six 
months  185,000  copies  were  sold.  There  has  been  a 
steady  demand  ever  since,  and  this  little  book  has  taken 
its  place  as  a  permanent  addition  to  the  Christian  litera- 
ture of  this  age.  Of  the  British  editions  alone,  330,000 
copies  had  been  sold  between  the  date  of  its  first  publi- 
cation and  that  of  Drummond's  death  in  1897.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  mention  that  this  booklet  consisted 
essentially  of  that  address  on  Paul's  definition  of 
Christian  love  which  had  charmed  Moody  in  1884,  and 
had  since  then  been  repeatedly  delivered  to  student 
audiences  in  Scotland  and  America. 

Pax  Vobiscum  followed  in  1890,  and  had  a  large  sale. 
At  the  time  of  the  author's  death  130,000  copies  had 
been  sold.  The  address  was  well  known  to  those  who 
had  had  the  privilege  of  hearing  Drummond  in  Edinburgh. 
If  we  do  not  mistake,  it  was  the  second  of  the  series 
with  which  he  first  enthralled  the  gatherings  in  the 
Oddfellows'  Hall  in  1885.  Its  plea  for  the  service  of 
Jesus  Christ,  its  satisfying  explanation  of  His  "  yoke," 
secured  the  allegiance  of  numbers  of  men  at  the  time : 
in  its  printed  form  it  must  have  opened  a  door  of  hope 
for  many  a  resvless  soul. 


148  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

In  1891  The  Programme  of  Christianity  was  in  turn 
given  to  the  public.  As  we  liave  seen  in  an  earlier 
chapter,  this  address  was  in  use  in  1882.  When 
Drummoud  first  delivered  it  at  the  Edinburgh  meetings, 
every  student  present  received  a  tastefully  printed  card 
on  which  the  details  of  Christ's  commission,  as  set  forth 
in  the  opening  words  of  the  sLxty-first  chapter  of  the  Book 
of  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  were  set  down  in  categorical  form. 
We  have  already  noted  that  Drummond  in  this  address 
gave  voice  to  his  profound  impression  of  the  importance 
of  Christianity  as  a  social  factor,  the  fountainhead  of  all 
genuine  altruism,  and,  therefore,  a  matter  of  absorbing 
human  interest.  The  popularity  of  the  subject  was 
attested  by  the  sales  of  the  booklet,  which,  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  had  reached  80,000  copies. 

The  City  without  a  Church  was  published  in  1892. 
It  did  not  command  the  same  sale  as  any  of  the  other 
booklets,  although  a  British  issue  of  60,000  in  less  than 
four  years  was  far  from  inconsiderable.  This  address, 
too,  was  devoted  to  the  social  message  of  Christianity. 

"  The  great  use  of  the  Church  is  to  help  men  to  do 
without  it.  .  .  .  What  Church  services  really  express 
is  the  want  of  Christianity.  And  when  that  which  is 
perfect  in  Christianity  is  come,  all  this,  as  the  mere 
passing  stay  and  scaffolding  of  struggling  souls,  must 
vanish  away.  .  .  .  The  Puritan  preachers  were  wont  to 
tell  their  people  to  '  practise  dying.'  Yes  ;  but  what  is 
dying  ?  It  is  going  to  a  City.  And  what  is  required 
of  those  who  would  go  to  a  city  ?  The  practice  of 
citizenship — the  due  employment  of  the  unselfish  talents, 
the  development  of  public  spirit,  the  payment  of  the 
full  tax  to  the  great  brotherhood,  the  subordination  of 
personal  aims  to  the  common  good.  And  where  are 
these  to  be  learned  ?      Here ;    in  cities  here.  ...  No 


HIS  BOOKLETS  149 

Church  however  holy,  no  priest  however  earnest,  no 
book  however  sacred,  can  transfer  to  any  human  char- 
acter the  capacities  of  citizenship  —  these  capacities 
which  in  the  very  nature  of  things  are  necessities  to 
those  who  would  live  in  the  Kingdom  of  G-od.  .  .  .  The 
eternal  beyond  is  the  eternal  here.  The  street-life,  the 
home-life,  the  business-life,  the  city-life  in  all  the  varied 
range  of  its  activity,  are  an  apprenticeship  for  the  City 
of  God.  There  is  no  other  apprenticeship  for  it.  To 
know  how  to  serve  Christ  in  them  is  to  '  practise  dying.' 
To  move  among  the  people  on  the  common  street ;  to 
meet  them  in  the  market-place  on  equal  terms ;  to  live 
among  them,  not  as  saint  or  monk,  but  as  brother-man 
with  brother  -  man ;  to  serve  God,  not  with  form  or 
ritual,  but  in  the  free  impulse  of  a  soul ;  to  carry  on 
the  multitudinous  activities  of  the  city  —  social,  com- 
mercial, political,  philanthropic — in  Christ's  spirit  and 
for  His  ends :  this  is  the  religion  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
and  the  only  meetness  for  Heaven  which  has  much 
reality  in  it." 

The  last  booklet  was  The  Changed  Life,  the  substance 
of  that  address  on  Sanctification  which  had  such  a  warm 
welcome  at  Northfield  and  elsewhere.  Judged  by  sales 
of  the  author's  edition,  it  ranked  in  popularity  next  to 
The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World,  and  Pax  Vobiscum. 
In  March  1897  the  total  sales  amounted  to  89,000 
copies.  We  may  make  a  couple  of  short  illustrative 
extracts  to  indicate  its  scope. 

"  We  all,  reflecting  as  a  mirror  the  character  of  Christ, 
are  transformed  into  the  same  image  from  character  to 
character — from  a  poor  character  to  a  better  one,  from 
a  better  one  to  one  a  little  better  still,  from  that  to  one 
still  more  complete,  until  by  slow  degrees  the  Perfect 


ISO  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Image  is  attained.  Here  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
sanctification  is  compressed  into  a  sentence :  Eeflect  the 
character  of  Christ  and  you  will  become  like  Christ. 
All  men  are  mirrors — that  is  the  first  law  on  which  this 
formula  is  based.  ...  If  all  these  varied  reflections 
from  our  so-called  secret  life  are  patent  to  the  world, 
how  close  the  writing,  how  complete  the  record,  within 
the  soul  itself  ?  For  the  influences  we  meet  are  not 
simply  held  for  a  moment  on  the  polished  surface  and 
then  thrown  off  again  into  space.  Each  is  retained  where 
first  it  fell,  and  stored  up  in  the  soul  for  ever.  The 
law  of  Assimilation  is  the  second,  and  by  far  the  most 
impressive  truth  which  underlies  the  formula  of  sanctifi- 
cation— the  truth  that  men  are  not  only  mirrors,  but 
that  these  mirrors  .  .  .  transfer  into  their  own  inmost 
substance,  and  hold  in  permanent  preservation  the  things 
that  thsy  reflect." 

One  of  Drummond's  own  students,  now  occupying  an 
important  pastorate  in  the  United  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  testifies  that  this  address  "  marked  the 
turning-point "  with  him,  and  many  others  have  found 
in  it  a  new-born  hope  and  desire  to  seek  the  way  of 
holiness. 

It  would  pass  the  wit  of  man  to  ascertain  with  any 
exactness  the  total  circulation  attained  by  these  different 
addresses.  They  were  translated  into  almost  every 
European  language ;  they  were  circulated  widely  in  the 
Uuited  States ;  they  were  also  translated  into  Tamil, 
Chinese,  and  other  foreign  tongues.  An  authorised 
Gorman  translation  of  The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World 
is  said  to  have  commanded  a  larger  sale  than  any  German 
publication  of  the  same  year.  Through  these  various 
translations,  Drummond's  teaching  reached  a  wider 
public  than  he  had  ever  dreamed  of;  and  we  have  little 


HIS  BOOKLETS  151 

fear  of  contradiction  when  we  say  that  no  other  purely 
religious  book  has  in  these  days  equalled  the  more 
popular  of  the  booklets  in  respect  of  total  issue  and 
"  spread." 

The  teaching  of  the  addresses  in  these  booklets  was 
so  unconventional  and  so  well-received  that  it  provoked 
much  jealous  criticism.  We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer 
to  this  in  the  following  chapter.  On  the  other  hand, 
appreciative  critics  hailed  the  addresses  as  containing  the 
very  essence  and  heart  of  the  creed  of  Christianity,  and 
some  of  Drummond's  own  friends,  who  should  have  known 
better,  went  over  the  score  in  welcoming  a  growth  in 
breadth  of  spiritual  insight  and  a  less  individualistic  and 
more  social  note  than  was  found  in  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World ;  when,  as  he  once  said,  with  a  smile. 
The  Programme  of  Christianity,  to  which  particular 
reference  had  been  made,  was  written  long  before 
Natural  Law, 


CHAPTER   XVIIL 

MiSUNDEESTOOD. 

AT  this  point  in  the  narrative  of  Drummond's  life- 
work  we  may  suitably  refer  to  the  several 
occasions  on  which  he  had  to  stand  the  direct  attack 
of  those  who  conceived  that  his  teaching  was  inimical  to 
the  best  interests  of  Christianity,  of  those  who  misjudged 
him  by  inaccurate  reports  of  his  addresses,  or  of  those 
who  failed  to  sympathise  with  his  evangelical  purpose  in 
life.  It  is  not  for  us  here  to  attempt  anything  like 
discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  different  controversies : 
we  shall  coniine  ourselves  to  a  glance  at  the  attacks 
themselves,  and  Drummond's  attitude  towards  them. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  the  storm  of 
criticism  provoked  by  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World.  The  question  at  issue,  the  relations  of  Science 
and  Eeligion,  was  raised  again,  as  we  shall  see  in  a 
following  chapter,  on  the  publication  of  The  Ascent  of 
Man.  Throughout  these  discussions  Drummond  suc- 
ceeded in  maintaining  a  wonderfully  impersonal  position. 
On  behalf  of  religion,  he  was  willing  to  take  up  the 
cudgels  against  the  scoffing  scientist.  "  Theology  .  .  ." 
he  wrote  (in  his  review  of  Mr.  G-ladstone's  Impregnable 
Bock  of  Holy  Scripture)  "  has  long  suffered  under  quite 
unusual  treatment.  Any  visionary  is  taken,  and  that 
notoriously  by  men  of  science,  as  the  representative  of 
the  system.     And  it  is  time  for  theology  to  be  relieved 

152 


MISUNDERSTOOD  153 

of  the  irresponsible  favours  of  a  hundred  sciologists, 
whose  guerilla  warfare  has  long  alienated  thinking  men 
in  all  departments  of  knowledge.  .  .  .  When  science 
speaks  of  them  [the  exponents  of  scientific  theology]  it 
accepts  positions  and  statements  from  any  quarter ;  from 
books  which  have  been  for  years  or  centuries  out-grown, 
or  from  popular  teachers  whom  scientific  theology  un- 
weariedly  repudiates." 

"With  equal  confidence,  he  would  champion  the  cause 
of  science  as  a  torch-bearer  to  religion.  "  Let  science 
and  religion,"  he  said  in  1892,  "go  each  in  its  own 
path,  they  will  not  disturb  each  other.  The  contest  is 
dying  out.  The  new  view  of  the  Bible  has  made 
further  apologetics  almost  superfluous.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  show  that  in  my  articles  on  Creation. 
No  one  now  expects  science  from  the  Bible.  That 
would  be  an  anachronism.  The  literary  form  of 
Genesis  precludes  the  idea  that  it  is  science.  You 
might  as  well  contrast  Paradise  Lost  with  geology  aa 
the  Book  of  Genesis.  .  .  .  Mr.  Huxley  might  have 
been  better  employed  than  in  laying  that  poor  old 
ghost.  The  more  modern  views  of  the  composition 
of  the  Bible  have  destroyed  the  stock-in-trade  of  the 
platform  infidel.  Such  men  are  constructing  difficulties 
which  do  not  exist,  and  they  fight  as  those  who  beat 
the  air.  .  .  .  Science  has  made  religion  a  thousand 
times  more  thinkable  and  certain.  It  had  become 
simply  impossible  for  thinking  men  and  women  to  be 
at  rest  on  the  old  theological  standpoint.  The  basis 
of  religion  was  getting  very  weak.  Science  and 
literature,  so  far  from  weakening  the  spiritual  part  of 
rehgion,  have   strengthened  it  beyond   all  belief." 

But  although  he  was  conspicuously  self-possessed 
in  the  face  of  criticism,  Drummond  felt  the  alienation 
of  the  sympathy  of  his  friends,  and  that  most  keenly, 


154  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

In  1883  he  wrote  to  a  correspondent : — "I  cannot  thank 
you,  or  honour  you  enough,  for  your  letter.  It  did  me 
good  ...  In  all  my  poor  work  I  try  to  be  guiltless 
of  ever  *  destroying '  anything,  believing  that  the  true 
method  is  Christ's,  to  *  fulfil.'  I  never  therefore  seek 
to  be  destructive,  but  constructive,  and  you  are  quietly 
doing  this  same  work.  I  received  your  words  in  your 
very  kind  letter  with  real  enthusiasm.  They  are  as  true 
as  they  are  manly  and  touching.  It  is  a  great  thing  to 
live  amid  such  movements — when  thought  around  us  is 
disturbed  rather  than  stagnating,  and  I  rejoice  in  it. 
The  deliverance  from  Pharisaism  is  what  we  must 
devoutly  pray  for  in  ourselves  and  others,  and  in 
struggling  against  this  we  may  understand  Him. 
Some  day  I  hope  we  may  have  a  talk  about  evolution, 
that  far-from-proved,  possibly  never-to-be-proved,  but 
mere  working-hypothesis,  to  be  superseded  soon  I  hope 
by  something  more  '  fulfilling.' " 

What  exactly  was  the  occasion  of  the  misunderstand- 
ing at  Northfield,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been 
made,  has  not  been  put  on  record ;  but  by  Drummond's 
theological  friends  in  Britain  it  has  been  suggested  that 
the  point  of  separation  had  somewhat  to  do  with  his 
advanced  views  on  the  subject  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures.  His  intimate  and  life-long  friend,  Dr.  John 
Watson,  has  written : — "  He  began  with  believing  in 
verbal  inspiration,  with  holding  the  complete  system 
of  orthodox  doctrine,  with  its  use  of  conventional 
phrases  about  religion.  He  went  on  to  accept  the 
results  of  Biblical  criticism,  to  place  charity  above  all 
doctrine,  and  to  carry  the  principle  of  evolution  to  a 
somewhat  startling  length.  Whether  this  change  con- 
ciliated another  world  I  do  not  know,  but  it  certainly 
deeply  offended  his  old  evangelistic  world.  That  world 
is    very    cohesive    and    thoroughly    organised,  with    its 


MISUNDERSTOOD  155 

papers,  catchwords,  weapons,  and  it  did  not  spare 
Drummond,  till  even  his  sweet  temper  was  tried,  and 
he  described  his  malicious  critics  as  '  the  assassins  of 
character.'  It  is  almost  incredible,  and  it  was,  of 
course,  quite  inexcusable  that  any  school  of  religion, 
however  extreme,  should  persecute  so  beautiful  a 
Christian  as  Henry  Drummond;  but  it  would  be 
unreasonable  to  blame  certain  of  his  former  friends 
because  they  were  alarmed  and  did  not  any  longer 
desire  his  help.  .  .  .  Drummond  felt  himself  '  a  good 
deal  out  of  it '  at  Northfield  Conference,  which  was  to 
be  expected,  and  he  would  have  been  as  much  '  out  of 
it'  at  Keswick  Conference  in  his  later  years,  but  the 
Conference  people  need  not  have  '  rent '  him,  and  he 
need  not  have  expected  *a  happy  time.'" 

It  is  alleged  that  Mr.  Moody  has  been  heard  to 
say — "  The  apes  were  almost  too  much  for  me,"  but, 
it  is  worthy  of  record  that  he  remained  loyal  "  while 
the  religious  papers  were  stabbing  Drummond  to  the 
heart."  Of  the  different  reports  of  Moody's  vindication 
of  his  friend,  the  following  is  the  most  circumstantial. 
"  When  the  Professor  was  on  a  visit  to  Northfield,  some 
of  Mr.  Moody's  associates  were  greatly  exercised  as  to 
Mr.  Drummond's  soundness  in  the  faith,  and  after  much 
cogitation  they  resolved  to  approach  Mr.  Moody  on  the 
subject.  A  deputation  was  appointed.  Mr.  Moody  was 
asked  to  interrogate  his  visitor.  To  this  the  evangelist 
agreed,  saying  that  he  would  take  an  opportunity  on 
the  following  morning.  The  morning  came,  and  with  it 
the  interview.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  the 
deputation  again  saw  Mr.  Moody,  and  asked  him  if  he 
had  seen  Mr.  Drummond.  '  Yes,'  said  Mr.  Moody. 
'  And  did  you  speak  to  him  about  his  theological 
views?'  'No,'  said  Mr.  Moody,  'I  did  not.  Within 
half  an  hour  of  his  coming  down  this  morning  he  gave 


156  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

me  such  proof  of  his  being  possessed  of  a  higher 
Christian  life  than  either  you  or  I  have,  that  I  could 
not  say  anything  to  him.  You  can  talk  to  him  yourselves 
if  you  like.' "  Of  the  friendship  of  the  great  evangelist 
for  Drummond,  Mr.  Moody's  biographer  says : — "  He 
believed  in  the  man  with  all  his  heart,  and  though  he 
could  not  follow  him  in  all  his  theories,  he  knew  him 
to  be  a  Christian  '  who  lived  continually  in  the 
thirteenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians.'" 

Desire  for  esteem  and  for  public  notice  was  foreign 
to  Drummond's  nature,  and  throughout  his  life  he  made 
a  persistent  struggle  to  withdraw  himself  from  public 
platforms.  This  trait  is  well  set  forth  and  exemplified 
in  the  following  account,  written,  while  he  was  still 
alive,  by  a  journaUst  with  whom  he  was  on  intimate 
terms. 

"  Few  public  teachers  act  as  thoroughly  in  the  spirit 
of  the  precept  '  Hide  your  life,  but  show  your  wit.' 
Professor  Drummond  likes  to  do  his  work  as  quietly  as 
possible.  In  his  native  Scotland  he  is  rarely  seen  at 
great  public  meetings,  not  because  he  is  not  asked  to  take 
part  in  them,  but  because  he  prefers  the  bypaths  of 
platform  life.  ...  I  sometimes  think  that  the  institution 
of  the  reporter  has  played  a  large  part  in  driving 
Professor  Drummond  into  his  shell.  It  would  be  wrong 
to  say  he  hates  the  reporter,  for  I  don't  believe  he  is 
capable  of  hatred  toward  any  man;  but  it  is  quite 
allowable  to  say  he  hates  reports.  If  you  can  promise 
him  your  meeting  will  not  be  reported,  you  have  won 
half  the  battle  in  securing  him  as  a  speaker." 

The  same  writer  goes  on  to  give  an  instance  of 
Drummond's  modesty.  While  acting  as  editor  of  a 
northern    religious    paper    he    received    a    letter    from 


MISUNDERSTOOD                          157 
Drummond  which  explains  itself.     "Just  seen  C ,  a 


most  excellent  piece  of  work.  But  it  revives  an  awful 
threat  you  made  to  go  on  from  C.  to  D.  Now  I 
want  to  beg  you,  in  all  seriousness,  not  to  do  that. 
Goodness  knows,  I  am  sick  enough  of  myself  without 
that  further  humiliation.     But  apart  from  all  that,  I  am 

known  to  be  one  of  the  supporters  of  the  M C , 

and  this  kind  of  log-rolling  won't  do.  If  any  expense 
to  the  paper  has  already  been  incurred,  I  will  pay  it  a 
dozen  times,  but  you  really  must  choose  another  victim. 
I  ask  this  as  a  personal  favour,  if  you  will  not  listen  to 
other  argument,  and  I  rely  on  your  humouring  me  in 
this,  even  though  it  be  against  your  convictions.  ...  I 
am  thought  to  be  a  kind  of  harmless  lunatic ;  my  book 
on  Natural  Law  is  supposed  to  be  a  castle  in  the  air ;  I 
am  believed  to  have  a  bee  in  my  bonnet,  and  altogether 
to  be  affected  by  a  mild  kind  of  insanity." 

If  Drummond  disliked  having  his  addresses  reported, 
he  abhorred  the  "  interview " ;  and  even  in  America, 
where  this  phase  of  journalism  had  its  birth  and  is 
carried  to  extraordinary  lengths,  it  was  found  impossible 
to  make  "  copy  "  of  him.  "  He  would  be  an  audacious 
interviewer,  indeed,"  wrote  a  New  York  Tribune  press- 
man, "  who  would  make  a  venture  for  personal  informa- 
tion, and  the  amount  obtained  would  be  comparable  to 
some  of  the  atoms  described  in  the  lectures,  with  a  large 
credit  in  favour  of  the  infusoria.  In  this  particular, 
Professor  Drummond  is  utterly  elusive."  "Attempt,  as 
adroitly  as  you  may,"  wrote  another  journalist,  "  to  lure 
the  Professor  into  the  autobiographical  strain,  and  he 
becomes  as  silent  as  an  oyster." 

Sometimes  the  would-be  interviewer  was  "  bowled  "  in 
the  first  "  over."  Drummond  told  of  one  amusing 
incident  of  this  sort,  which  occurred  upon  his  second 
visit  to  America. 


158  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

"  The  day  before  sailing  from  New  York,  I  was  called 
upon  at  my  hotel  by  a  representative  of  one  of  the  great 
New  York  dailies.  On  being  shown  in,  he  at  once 
began — 

" '  You  are  the  author  of  a  book  called  How  to  Make 
Love '  ? 

"  I  said  '  No.' 

" '  What,  did  you  not  write  that  ? ' 

"'No.' 

" '  Are  you  quite  sure  it  wasn't  you  ?  * 

" '  Quite  sure.' 

" '  Well,  that's  strange.  However,  you  are  going  to 
lecture  to-night  ? ' 

" '  Well — I  am  going  to  talk  a  little.' 

"  '  To  whom  ? ' 

"  '  The  students.' 

" '  Where  ? ' 

" '  In  Chickering  Hall.' 

" '  What  about  ? ' 

"  '  Well, — about — Christianity.' 

" '  Ah '  (whipping  out  his  notebook).  '  What  is  your 
opinion  of  Christianity  ?  ' 

"  Clearly  this  man  was  the  sporting  editor." 

"  I  then  found,"  added  Professor  Drummond,  "  that  I 
had  an  engagement." 

In  having  garbled  and  disconnected  reports  of  his 
utterances  given  to  the  public  in  uurevised  and  scrappy 
newspaper  paragraphs,  Drummond  early  made  acquaint- 
ance with  the  misfortune  which  is  the  lot  of  the  teacher 
or  preacher  who  happens  to  strike  a  fresh  and  indi- 
vidual note ;  and  he  took  every  precaution  to  secure  the 
exclusion  of  the  reporters — "  these  irresponsible  mis- 
creants "  as  he  humorously  called  them  in  one  private 
letter — from  his  Students'  Meetings.     For  his  pains,  he 


MISUNDERSTOOD  159 

drew  on  himsslf  the  attack  of  an  Edinburgh  newspaper, 
and  also  of  the  Australian  religious  press.  He  was 
accused  of  striving  to  conceal  his  teaching  from  the 
general  public,  as  if  it  had  been  something  occult.  Nor 
was  he  absolutely  successful.  With  an  eye  like  a  lynx, 
he  was  quick  to  "  spot "  a  reporter,  and  have  him  dealt 
with  before  he  had  time  to  leave  the  hall,  but  that  did 
not  prevent  the  appearance  of  various  paragraphs,  which 
were  none  the  more  sympathetic  or  exact  for  his  ex- 
pressed dislike  of  their  publication.  In  the  discussion  on 
his  teaching  which  took  place  in  the  Free  Church  Assembly 
in  1892,  Drummond  intervened  at  one  point  to  repudiate 
the  accuracy  of  alleged  quotations  from  his  addresses, 
and  told  the  House  that,  if  he  was  right  in  thinking 
that  his  critic  referred  to  an  Edinburgh  evening  news- 
paper, "  the  reports  which  appeared  in  that  newspaper  of 
the  addresses  delivered  to  the  Edinburgh  Students  during 
the  winter  were  an  utter  perversion,  and,  in  his  humble 
opinion,  a  wicked  perversion  for  purposes  of  journalism, 
of  what  was  said  at  these  meetings."  It  is  only  fair  to 
add  that,  after  a  personal  call  which  Drummond  made 
upon  the  editor,  this  newspaper  ceased  to  question  the 
wisdom  of  the  suppression  of  reporters,  and  even 
published  one  or  two  articles  in  which  the  work  among 
the  students  was  spoken  of  in  an  appreciative  and  kindly 
manner. 

From  the  days  of  the  first  Moody  campaign  a 
prominent  evangelical  weekly  newspaper  adopted 
Drummond  as  one  of  its  men,  and  lost  no  opportunity 
of  making  copy  from  his  addresses  and  any  letters  or 
articles  he  might  write.  But,  from  the  date  of  the 
crisis  at  Northfield  in  1887,  this  exponent  of  ultra- 
evangelicalism  threw  him  over,  and  thenceforward 
published  anything  that  belittled  the  value  of  his  work. 
In   1888,  a  student  at  Edinburgh  University  wrote  a 


i6o  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

letter  to  the  journal  in  question,  attacking  Drummond's 
teaching  at  the  Students'  Meetings,  and  this  was  published. 
The  writer  belonged  to  a  well-known  family  in  the  inner 
circle  of  London  ultra-orthodoxy,  and,  although  he  was 
only  a  unit  among  the  thousands  of  Edinburgh  students, 
and  individually  a  man  of  stereotyped  creed  and  the 
narrowest  possible  outlook,  his  mischievous  missive 
did  its  work,  and  went  a  long  way  to  alienate  the 
sympathies  of  hundreds  of  the  Christian  men  and 
women  whose  friendship  Drummond  had  won  in  earlier 
days.  At  the  time,  Drummond  wrote,  "  I  did  not  care 
for  the  kind  of  attack  personally,  but  I  am  very  jealous 
just  now  that  the  Edinburgh  Students'  work  should  not 
suffer.  I  defend  that  from  the  scoffer."  Fortunately, 
attacks  of  this  kind  had  no  influence  in  the  sphere  in 
which  he  v/as  working. 

There  is  a  touch  of  the  subjective  note  in  the  words 
in  which  he  referred,  in  1889,  to  the  alleged  heresies 
of  Dr.  Marcus  Dods.  "  One  cannot  talk  to  children 
without  being  real ;  and  one  cannot  be  called  a  heretic 
without  being  honest.  ...  On  three  distinct  occasions 
the  cry  of  heretic  has  been  raised  against  Dr.  Dods. 
Whether  just  or  unjust,  this  is  never  a  comfortable 
thiug ;  and  though  such  charges  must  be  sometimes 
necessary,  both  for  the  relief  of  conscience  and  the 
protection  of  truth,  it  is  surely  one  of  the  cruellest 
features  of  the  strained  theological  situation,  not  only 
that  a  public  man  takes  his  life  in  his  hands  every  time 
he  opens  his  lips,  but  that  he  is  liable  to  have  his  influence 
marred  and  his  mind  troubled  for  years  by  any  spark 
of  suspicion  regarding  him  that  may  be  idly  dropped 
on  the  combustible  elements  of  rehgious  intolerance." 

In  1890,  a  strongly  adverse  criticism  of  Drummond's 
address  on  missions  was  published  by  the  religious 
journal  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made.     In  a 


MISUNDERSTOOD  161 

letter  which  he  wrote  to  a  friend  at  the  time,  he 
points  out  that  the  writer  of  the  communication  just 
alluded  to  "  pretends  that  he  has  my  address  before 
him.  He  even  says,  '  read  in  their  connection  they  mean 
more  than  this.'  Now,  if  the  things  quoted  had  been 
read  in  their  connection,  no  such  construction  could 
ever  have  been  placed  upon  them.  There  was  no 
account  of  this  address  published  that  was  not  ab- 
breviated  to   one-fourth   by   the   reporter.      A   column 

appeared    in    the    A and    was    copied    into    the 

B C by  the    clever    editor,   who    changed   it 

into  the  first  person  to  make  it  look  as  if  it  was 
his  own  reporting.  But  the  newspaper  impression  of 
the  address  was  entirely  false ;  and  the  D 's  im- 
pression is  equally  false.  I  did  not  say  the  things 
quoted.  .  .  .  The  effect  of  this  address  was  just  the 
opposite  of  that  indicated,  and  I  have  heard  already 
from  several  wliom  it  has  sent  to  he  missionaries  abroad. 
Indeed,  no  address  I  ever  gave  brought  in  such 
fruit  in  this  direction."  In  the  same  letter  he  con- 
fessed how  much  this  attack  had  pained  him  when 
he  wrote :  "  I  regard  it  as  a  great  evil  when  I  am 
made    to    lose    the    sympathy    of    God's    people,    and 

the   article   in  last   week's   D can  only  have  that 

effect." 

In  May  1892,  certain  members  of  the  Assembly  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  broke  the  monotony  of 
the  routine  proceedings  of  that  Court  by  indulging  in 
a  heresy  hunt.  Professors  Dods,  Bruce,  Candlish,  and 
Drummond,  were  in  turn  impeached :  in  every  case 
the  result  was  the  discomfiture  of  the  attacking  party. 
Drummond  was,  perhaps,  least  severely  handled.  The 
booklets  and  addresses  to  students  were  this  time 
brought  under  review,  and  Drummond  undoubtedly 
took  the  wind  out  of  the  sails  of  his  critics  when,  as 
II 


i62  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

we  have  already  seen,  he    repudiated   the  accuracy  of 
the  reports  of  the  addresses  challenged. 

Two  of  Drummond's  intimate  friends  have  written  of 
the  general  charge  of  heresy  made  against  him,  and 
their  words  may  be  quoted  here  as  an  indication  of  the 
appreciation  which  he  won  from  those  who  knew  him 
best. 

The  Eev.  D.  M.  Ross  has  written : — "  The  ordeal  of 
criticism  to  which  the  man  and  his  teaching  were  sub- 
jected for  years  gave  Drummond  an  opportunity  of 
revealing  the  strength  and  beauty  of  his  character.  No 
bitter  word  did  he  ever  write  or  speak  in  reply  to  his 
most  merciless  or  ungenerous  critics.  ...  I  know  how 
some  of  the  attacks,  imputing  unworthy  motives  and 
traducing  his  character,  made  Drummond's  sensitive 
nature  wince ;  but  not  only  did  he  not  break  the 
silence,  but  he  nourished  no  bitter  grudge  in  his  heart. 
One  instance  of  his  magnanimity  to  an  opponent  may 
be  worth  recalling.  A  very  able  theologian  had  reviewed, 
in  the  pages  of  an  influential  journal,  the  booklet  The 
City  without  a  Church,  not  only  in  a  trenchant  but  in 
a  somewhat  personally  bitter  fashion.  '  What  ails  So- 
and-So  at  me  ? '  was  Drummond's  comment  to  a 
mutual  friend ;  and  when  he  was  asked  a  few  weeks 
afterwards  by  an  American  theological  college  to  recom- 
mend a  Scottish  theologian  for  a  course  of  lectures,  he 
named  his  castigator." 

Dr.  John  Watson  adopted  an  equally  emphatic  tone 
in  an  article  which  he  contributed  to  the  North  American 
Review.  "  You  might  as  well  have  beaten  a  spirit  with 
a  stick  as  prosecuted  Drummond  for  heresy.  .  .  .  When 
one  saw  the  unique  and  priceless  work  which  he  did,  it 
was  inexplicable  and  very  provoking  that  the  religious 


MISUNDERSTOOD  163 

world  should  have  cast  this  man,  of  all  others,  out,  and 
have  lifted  up  its  voice  against  him.  Had  religion  so 
many  men  of  beautiful  and  winning  life,  so  many- 
thinkers  of  wide  range  and  genuine  culture,  so  many 
speakers  able  to  move  young  men  by  hundreds  towards 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  that  she  could  afford  or  have 
the  heart  to  withdraw  her  confidence  from  Drummond  ? 
Was  there  ever  such  madness  and  irony  before  Heaven 
as  good  people  lifting  up  their  testimony  and  writing 
articles  against  this  most  gracious  disciple  of  the  Master, 
because  they  did  not  agree  with  him  about  certain  things 
he  said,  or  some  theory  he  did  not  teach,  while  the  world 
lay  round  them  in  unbelief  and  selfishness,  and  sorrow 
and  pain  ?  '  What  can  be  done,'  an  eminent  evangelist 
once  did  me  the  honour  to  ask,  '  to  heal  the  breach 
between  the  religious  world  and  Drummond  ? '  And 
I  dared  to  reply  that  in  my  poor  judgment  the  first 
step  ought  to  be  for  the  religious  world  to  repent  of  its 
sins,  and  make  amends  to  Drummond  for  its  bitterness. 
The  evangehst  indicated  that,  so  far  as  he  knew  his 
world,  it  was  very  unlikely  to  do  any  such  becoming 
deed,  and  I  did  not  myself  remember  any  instance  of 
repentance  on  the  part  of  the  Pharisees.  Then,  grow- 
ing bold,  I  ventured  to  ask  why  the  good  man  had  not 
summoned  Drummond  to  his  side,  as  he  was  working 
in  a  University  town,  and  knew  better  than  any  other 
person  that  he  could  not  find  anywhere  an  assistant  so 
acceptable  or  skilful.  He  agreed  in  that,  but  declared 
at  once  that  if  Drummond  came  his  present  staff  would 
leave,  and  that  two  men  could  not  do  all  the  work ; 
which  seemed  reasonable,  and,  besides,  every  man  knows 
his  own  business  best,  and  that  evangelist  knew  his 
remarkably  well.  .  .  .  Never  did  my  friend  say  one 
unkind  word  of  the  world  which  condemned  him,  but  it 
may  be  allowed  to  another  to  say  that  if  anyone  wishes 


i64  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

to  indict  the  professional  religionists  of  our  time  for 
bigotry  and  stupidity,  painful  and  unanswerable  proof 
lies  ready  to  his  hand  in  the  fact  that  the  finest  evangel- 
ist of  the  day  was  treated  as  a  Samaritan." 

We  believe  it  will  be  readily  conceded  that  the  word 
"  misunderstood "  ought  to  be  written  over  each  one  of 
the  grounds  of  attack    upon    Drummond  to  which  we 
have  referred  in  this  chapter.     The  scientists  placed  no 
value  upon  the  spiritual  aim  of  his  teaching,  and  had  no 
desire  that  science    should    contribute  anything  to  re- 
ligion.    The  theologians,  professional  and  amateur  alike, 
"  feared  the  Greeks,  although  they  brought  gifts."    Much 
disservice  had  been  done  to  Christianity  by  men  who 
spoke  in    the    name    of    science,  and    these  theological 
critics  had  not  that  intimate  personal  acquaintance  with 
Drummond  which  would  have  disarmed  their  suspicion 
of  his  making  an  attempt  to  hinder  the  cause  of  the 
Evangel.     The  casual  visitor  to  Northfield,  in  sympathy 
with  but  mayhap  not  as  great  of  soul  as  D.  L.  Moody, 
was  misled  rather  than  helped  by  Drummond's  scientific 
terminology  and  illustrations,  and  failed  to  apprehend 
his  purity  of  purpose  and  singleness  of  eye.      The  re- 
ligious newspaper  took  the  word  of  a  sohtary  medical 
student  upon  a  point  of  theology,  and  did  Drummond 
great  despite  by  publication  of  an  absolutely  erroneous 
account  of  the  address  on  missions.      The  Free  Church 
Assembly  was  asked  to  condemn  him  for  heresy  upon 
the  strength  of  "  malicious  "  reports  in  an  evening  news- 
paper.    All  this  was  blind  treatment  of  the  man  who 
had  said — "  I  have  only  one    passion,  that  is  Christ," 
and  whose  daily  life  and  conversation  were  absolutely 
consistent  with  this  all-embracing  confession  of  faith. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

"The  Ascent  of  Man." 

IN  pursuit  of  his  special  studies  in  biological  science, 
Drummond,  as  early  as  1886,  conceived  the  idea 
of  writing  a  book  on  the  "  Ascent  of  Man,"  but  while  his 
friends  occasionally  got  hints  from  him  that  the  pro- 
ject had  not  been  entirely  dropped,  it  was  not  until 
some  years  later,  when  he  accepted  an  invitation  to 
deliver  the  Lowell  Institute  Lectures  in  Boston,  U.S.A., 
in  1893,  that  he  definitely  committed  himself  to  a 
public  statement  of  the  results  of  his  research  and 
study  on  the  subject. 

When  he  arrived  in  Boston  in  April  1893,  he  found 
that  his  lectures  were  to  be  a  centre  of  great  public 
interest.  A  ring  of  speculators  had  even  bought  up  a 
large  number  of  the  tickets  for  the  lecture  course, 
and  these  had  been  sold  at  fabulous  prices.  He  had 
supposed  that  he  would  have  to  talk  to  "  a  handful  of 
fossils,"  and  had  brought  from  Glasgow  a  specially  pre- 
pared budget  of  lectures,  written  in  his  driest  and  most 
abstrusely  scientific  vein.  "  To  his  surprise,  he  found 
that  instead  of  addressing  two  or  three  score  of  scientific 
specialists,  deaf  old  gentlemen,  and  matter-of-fact  '  blue- 
stockings,' all  Boston  and  the  suburbs  seemed  determined 
to  get  within  the  doors  of  the  Institute.  The  place 
was  besieged.     His  appearance  in  the  city  was  a  great 

popular  event,  and  the  astonished  Professor  straightway 

165 


i66  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

barred  his  door  at  the  Hotel  Brunswick,  and  devoted 
the  greater  part  of  his  Boston  visit  to  the  re-writing  of 
all  the  lectures  that  he  had  brought  with  him."  The 
demand  by  the  public  was  so  great,  indeed,  that  he  had 
to  re-deliver  each  lecture  to  a  second  audience  on  the 
day  following  its  first  delivery.  At  Chautauqua,  too, 
and,  we  believe,  in  Chicago,  he  was  able  to  make  further 
use  of  the  same  lectures. 

The  Ascent  of  Man  was  published  in  May  1894. 
Although  it  had  a  large  sale,  it  never  commanded  the 
public  interest  which  attended  Drummond's  earlier 
books.  This  was  partly  accounted  for  by  the  issue  of 
the  book  at  a  net  price.  Drummond  disapproved  of 
the  discount  system,  on  the  ground  that  it  did  harm  to 
the  booksellers.  The  discount  booksellers,  on  the  other 
hand,  declined  to  stock  the  book,  and  it  suffered  in 
consequence.  But,  apart  from  the  question  of  price, 
comparison  with  the  circulation  of  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World  brings  into  relief  the  conclusion  that, 
while  that  work, in  consequence  of  the  Spectators  review, 
was  hailed  as  a  serious  and  almost  successful  attempt 
to  reconcile  the  teachings  of  science  with  those  of 
orthodox  Christianity,  the  religious  public,  in  the  course 
of  the  decade  that  had  elapsed  since  its  publication,  had 
arrived  at  the  more  mature  judgment  that  Drummond 
had  failed  to  make  out  his  case — as  he  himself  was 
almost  prepared  to  admit — and  it  was  therefore  less  likely 
to  look  to  a  fresh  scientific  work  from  his  pen  in  the  hope 
of  his  coming  any  nearer  the  solution  of  the  problem. 
The  smaller  sale  may  also  be  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  this  book  is  more  purely  scientific  than  the  others, 
and  deals,  in  the  terminology  of  science,  with  the  laws 
of  biology  and  kindred  departments  of  knowledge. 
While  the  whole  has  a  religious  motif,  the  discussion  of 
questions  distinctly  related  to  revealed  religion  is  kept 


"THE  ASCENT  OF  MAN"  167 

strictly  to  its  proper  place.      In  short,  the  book  does  not 
appeal  to  a  large  percentage  of  the  Christian  public. 

Drummond  considered  the  book  his  most  import- 
ant contribution  to  the  scientific  literature  of  the  day, 
and  all  his  critics,  favourable  and  unfavourable,  agreed 
with  him  in  this.  In  his  Preface,  he  confesses  that 
Evolution  is  assumed  as  a  working-hypothesis  through- 
out. There,  too,  he  explains  the  field  to  be  occupied — 
"  the  Ascent  of  Man,  the  Individual  during  the  earlier 
stages  of  his  evolution.  It  is  a  study  in  embryos,  in 
rudiments,  in  installations ;  the  scene  is  the  primeval 
forest ;  the  date,  the  world's  dawn.  Tracing  his  rise  as 
far  as  Family  Life,  this  history  does  not  even  follow 
him  into  the  Tribe ;  and  as  it  is  only  then  that  social 
and  moral  life  begin  in  earnest,  no  formal  discussion  of 
these  high  themes  occurs."  In  an  extended  introductory 
chapter  Drummond  sketches  his  attitude  towards  Evolu- 
tion, and  goes  on  to  emphasise  the  need  for  recognition  of 
the  great  principle  of  the  Struggle  for  Others  as  a  factor  in 
Evolution.  This  is  the  kernel  of  his  contribution  to  the 
question,  and  the  keynote  of  the  book.  With  ample 
acknowledgments  to  previous  workers  in  this  department 
of  science,  he  sketches  the  Evolution  of  man,  and 
incidentally  of  lower  forms  of  life,  claiming  that 
Evolution  is  "  the  story  of  creation  as  told  by  those  who 
know  it  best."  He  alleges  that  the  danger  is  that,  in 
applying  Evolution  as  a  method,  it  may  not  be  carried 
far  enough.  "  No  man,  no  man  of  science  even,  observ- 
ing the  simple  facts,  can  ever  rob  religion  of  its  due. 
Eeligion  has  done  more  for  the  development  of  Altruism 
in  a  few  centuries  than  all  the  millenniums  of  geological 
time.  But  we  dare  not  rob  Nature  of  its  due.  We 
dare  not  say  that  Nature  played  the  prodigal  for  ages, 
and  reformed  at  the  eleventh  hour.  If  nature  is  the 
garment  of  God,  it  is  woven  without  seam  throughout ; 


i68  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

if  a  revelation  of  God,  it  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  for  ever ;  if  the  expression  of  His  Will,  there  is  in 
it  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning.  Those  who 
see  great  gulfs  fixed — and  we  have  all  begun  by  seeing 
them — end  by  seeing  them  filled  up." 

In  his  chapter  upon  "  The  Dawn  of  Mind  "  he  draws 
extensively  upon  his  unique  opportunities  for  studying 
human  life  in  its  most  primitive  forms  in  Africa,  in 
Australia,  in  the  New  Hebrides,  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago, and  elsewhere ;  and,  if  the  Evolutionary  scheme 
which  he  propounds  is  not  his  own,  he  brings  a  wealth 
of  first-hand  observation  towards  the  illumination  of  the 
question.  After  discussing  "  The  Evolution  of  Language," 
he  contends  that  "if  Evolution  reveals  anything,  if 
Science  itself  proves  anything,  it  is  that  Man  is  a 
spiritual  being,  and  that  the  direction  of  his  long  career 
is  towards  an  ever  larger,  richer,  and  more  exalted  life. 
On  the  final  problem  of  Man's  being,  the  voice  of  Science 
is  supposed  to  be  dumb.  But  this  gradual  perfecting  of 
instruments,  and,  as  each  arrives,  the  further  revelation 
of  what  lies  behind  in  Nature,  this  gradual  refining  of 
the  mind,  this  increasing  triumph  over  matter,  this  deeper 
knowledge,  this  efflorescence  of  the  soul,  are  facts  which 
even  Science  must  reckon  with." 

In  picturesque  and  adequate  terms  he  describes  the 
accepted  data  upon  which  the  Evolutionary  theory  of 
"  The  Struggle  for  Life "  meantime  rests,  and  then  he 
proceeds  to  open  up  his  theory  of  "  The  Struggle  for  the 
Life  of  Others,"  "  The  Evolution  of  a  Mother,"  and  "  The 
Evolution  of  a  Father."  This,  as  we  have  already  indi- 
cated, forms  his  own  particular  contribution  to  the 
teachings  of  Evolution,  and  is  the  raison-d'etre  of  the 
volume.  A  few  representative  quotations  may  best 
serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  drift  of  his  line  of 
thought. 


««THE  ASCENT  OF  MAN"  169 

"  With  a  Body  alone  Man  is  an  animal :  the  highest 
animal,  yet  a  pure  animal ;  struggling  for  its  own  narrow 
life,  living  for  its  small  and  sordid  ends.  Add  a  Mind 
to  that  and  the  advance  is  infinite.  The  Struggle  for 
Life  assumes  the  august  form  of  a  struggle  for  light :  he 
who  was  once  a  savage,  pursuing  the  arts  of  the  chase, 
realises  Aristotle's  ideal  man,  '  a  hunter  after  Truth.' 
Yet  this  is  not  the  end.  Experience  tells  us  that  Man's 
true  life  is  neither  lived  in  the  material  tracts  of  the 
body,  nor  in  the  higher  altitudes  of  the  intellect,  but  in 
the  warm  world  of  the  affections.  Till  he  is  equipped 
with  these,  Man  is  not  human.  He  reaches  his  full 
height  only  when  Love  becomes  to  him  the  breath  of 
life,  the  energy  of  will,  the  summit  of  desire.  There  at 
last  lies  all  happiness,  and  goodness,  and  truth,  and 
divinity.  .  .  . 

"  The  Struggle  for  the  Life  of  Others  is  the  physio- 
logical name  for  the  greatest  word  of  ethics — Other-ism, 
Altruism,  Love.  From  Self-ism  to  Other-ism  is  the 
supreme  transition  of  history.  ...  In  organising  the 
physiological  mechanism  of  Eeproduction  in  plants  and 
animals,  Nature  was  already  laying  wires  on  which,  one 
far-off  day,the  currents  of  all  higher  things  might  travel. . . . 

"  The  factor  of  Eeproduction  is  thus  seen  to  be  funda- 
mental. To  interpret  the  course  of  Evolution  without 
this  would  be  to  leave  the  richest  side  even  of  material 
Nature  without  an  explanation.  .  .  .  See  how  full 
Creation  is  of  meaning,  of  anticipation  of  good  for  Man, 
how  far  back  begins  the  undertone  of  Love.  Eemember 
that  nearly  all  the  beauty  of  the  world  is  Love-beauty — 
the  corolla  of  the  flower  and  the  plume  of  the  grass,  the 
lamp  of  the  firefly,  the  plumage  of  the  bird,  the  horn  of 
the  stag,  the  face  of  a  woman ;  that  nearly  all  the  music 
of  the  natural  world  is  Love-music — the  song  of  the 
nightingale,  the  call  of  the  mammal,  the  chorus  of  the 


I70  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

insect,  the  serenade  of  the  lover ;  that  nearly  all  the 
foods  of  the  world  are  Love-foods — the  date  and  the 
raisin,  the  banana  and  the  bread-fruit,  the  locust  and 
the  honey,  the  eggs,  the  grains,  the  seeds,  the  cereals, 
and  the  legumes ;  that  all  the  drinks  of  the  world  are 
Love-drinks — the  juices  of  the  sprouting  grain  and  the 
withered  hop,  the  milk  from  the  udder  of  the  cow,  the 
wine  from  the  Love-cup  of  the  vine.  Remember  that 
the  Family,  the  crown  of  all  higher  life,  is  the  creation 
of  Love ;  that  Co-operation,  which  means  power,  which 
means  wealth,  which  means  leisure,  which  therefore 
means  art  and  culture,  recreation  and  education,  is  the 
gift  of  Love.  Eemember  not  only  these  things,  but  the 
diffusions  of  feeling  which  accompany  them,  the  eleva- 
tions, the  ideals,  the  happiness,  the  goodness,  and  the 
faith  in  more  goodness,  and  ask  if  it  is  not  a  world  of 
Love  in  which  we  live.  .  .  . 

"  No  greater  day  ever  dawned  for  Evolution  than  this 
on  which  the  first  human  child  was  born.  For  there 
entered  then  into  the  world  the  one  thing  wanting  to 
complete  the  Ascent  of  Man — a  tutor  for  the  affections. 
It  may  be  that  a  Mother  teaches  a  Child,  but  in  a  far 
deeper  sense  it  is  the  Child  who  teaches  the  Mother. 
Millions  of  millions  of  Mothers  had  lived  in  the  world 
before  this,  but  the  higher  affections  were  unborn. 
Tenderness,  gentleness,  unselfishness,  love,  care,  self- 
sacrifice — these  as  yet  were  not,  or  were  only  in  the 
bud.  Maternity  existed  in  humble  forms,  but  not  yet 
Motherhood.  To  create  Motherhood  and  all  that  en- 
shrines itself  in  that  holy  word  required  a  human 
child.  .  .  . 

"  "When  Man  passed  .  .  .  from  the  frugivorous  to  the 
carnivorous  state,  the  Father  had  the  additional  responsi- 
bility of  keeping  his  family  in  food.  ...  He  is  not 
only  protector  but  food-provider.     It  is   impossible  to 


*«THE  ASCENT  OF  MAN"  171 

believe  that  in  process  of  time  the  discharge  of  this 
office  did  not  bring  some  faint  satisfactions  to  himself, 
that  the  mere  sight  of  his  offspring  fed  instead  of 
famished  did  not  give  him  a  certain  pleasure.  And 
though  the  pleasure  at  first  may  have  been  no  more 
than  the  absence  of  the  annoyance  they  caused  by  the 
clamorousness  of  their  want,  it  became  a  stimulus  to 
exertion,  and  led  in  the  end  to  rudimentary  forms  of 
sympathy  and  self-denial.  .  .  ." 

From  the  point  to  which  the  foregoing  quotations 
bring  us,  Drummond  goes  on  to  trace  the  formation  of 
the  human  Family,  which  tended  further  to  develop  the 
virtue  of  unselfishness.  "  A  man  cannot  be  a  member 
of  a  Family  and  remain  an  utter  egoist,"  he  says.  In 
the  Family,  too,  the  word  duty  at  least  received  a  first 
imperfect  meaning ;  and  the  father,  in  some  rough  way, 
formed  "  an  external  conscience  to  those  beneath  him," 
and  dutiful  obedience  introduced  the  rudiments  of  a 
sense  of  Eighteousness. 

In  a  final  chapter,  Drummond  seeks  to  show  an 
essential  identity  between  Christianity  and  Evolution. 
Both  are  methods  of  creation ;  both  have  for  their  object 
the  making  of  more  perfect  living  beings ;  both  work 
through  Love.  "  Evolution  and  Christianity  have  the 
same  Author,  the  same  end,  the  same  spirit.  There  is 
no  rivalry  between  these  processes.  Christianity  struck 
into  the  Evolutionary  process  with  no  noise  or  shock ; 
it  upset  nothing  of  all  that  had  been  done ;  it  took  all 
the  natural  foundations  precisely  as  it  found  them  ;  it 
adopted  Man's  body,  mind,  and  soul  at  the  exact  level 
where  Organic  Evolution  was  at  work  upon  them ;  it 
carried  on  the  building  by  slow  and  gradual  modifica- 
tions ;  and,  through  processes  governed  by  rational  laws, 
it  put  the  finishing  touches  to  the  Ascent  of  Man." 


172  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

The  critics  received  Drummond's  book  in  a  serious 
spirit.  Almost  without  exception,  they  gave  most 
careful  consideration  to  the  propositions  which  it 
contained.  One  and  all  were  agreed  in  praising  its 
lucidity  and  style,  as  a  piece  of  literary  work.  But 
few  of  them  were  prepared  to  go  beyond  this.  We 
give  a  list  of  the  principal  criticisms  and  reviews  of 
The  Ascent  of  Man  in  the  bibliographical  notes  appended 
to  the  present  volume,  and  we  believe  that  to  anyone 
who  may  take  the  trouble  to  examine  the  pamphlets 
and  articles  there  cited  it  will  speedily  become  evident 
that  Drummond's  leading  theory  was  received  with 
hesitation  by  all,  and  hardly  accepted  by  anyone. 
But  his  discoveries  were  always  derived  from  intuition 
rather  than  from  reason ;  and,  although  we  can  only 
speak  from  the  lay  point  of  view,  we  may  suggest  that 
Evolutionists  may  in  time,  by  laborious  work,  reach  the 
point  which  Drummond  attained  without  being  well  able 
to  say  how  he  got  there. 

To  the  more  conservative  men  in  the  Free  Ohurch 
of  Scotland  it  was  a  matter  of  real  concern  that  one 
of  their  professors  should  have  given  the  unqualified 
acceptance  to  the  theory  of  evolution  which  they 
thought  they  discovered  in  The  Ascent  of  Man,  and  no 
fewer  than  twelve  overtures  on  the  subject  were  brought 
before  the  General  Assembly  in  May  1895.  Principal 
Eainy  moved  for  a  finding  to  the  effect  that  this  book 
and  its  contents  did  not  warrant  the  interference  of  the 
Church.  In  the  course  of  an  important  speech,  the 
Principal  reminded  the  Assembly  that  "they  had  to 
consider  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  in  regard  to  which 
he  should  suppose  everybody  would  be  disposed  to  say 
there  was  certainly  something  in  it.  How  much  there 
was  in  it,  and  what  the  limits  of  its  application  were, 
was   a    question    on  which    a    very  great  difference  of 


"THE  ASCENT  OF  MAN"  173 

opinion  would  disclose  itself  if  all  their  minds  were 
unveiled  on  the  subject ;  but  this  principle  of  evolution, 
at  all  events  as  a  working-hypothesis,  had  in  a  very- 
remarkable  way  taken  possession  of  the  scientific  minds 
of  their  time.  There  was  no  doubt  about  that,  and 
there  was  no  doubt  that  the  most  Christian  men — he 
had  been  very  much  struck  with  it  in  the  case  of  some 
scientific  men  now  gone,  whom  he  had  expected,  just 
because  they  were  old  men,  to  be  the  men  to  stand  out 
against  it — had  gone  into  an  acceptance,  and  cordial 
acceptance,  and  application  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution, 
and  very  considerably  wide  applications  of  it,  in  a  way 
that  showed  with  what  force  and  strength  this  disclosure, 
this  conception,  this  method,  this  way  of  looking  at 
Nature  had  commended  itself  to  scientific  minds.  He 
was  speaking  of  very  decided  and  well-established 
Christians.  That  was  not  a  reason  why  any  of  them 
should  adopt  it,  or  make  it  a  part  of  their  own  in- 
tellectual belief ;  but  it  was  a  reason  why  they  should 
feel  that  they  were  here  dealing  with  something  which 
had  come  into  the  world  of  knowledge  and  of  science 
in  a  way  that  called  for  very  considerable  caution  and 
circumspection  on  the  part  of  Christians  and  Christian 
Churches.  .  .  .  He  thought  this  book  was  conceived 
by  a  man  who  was  mainly  occupied  with  theistic  and 
ethical  results  in  the  interests  of  truth  and  religion, 
and  who  thought  he  could  disprove  an  atheistic  and 
non-ethical  view  of  the  world."  In  seconding  Principal 
Eainy's  motion,  Dr.  Stalker  said  that  Professor  Drummond 
had  himself  to  blame.  "  There  are,"  he  said,  "  few 
writers  who  take  less  trouble  to  reconcile  their  views 
with  current  opinions ;  indeed,  the  Professor  does  not 
always  take  the  trouble  to  reconcile  with  each  other 
the  elements  occupying  different  corners  of  his  own 
mind.     He    is    an    intuitive    thinker,   who    sees    single 


174  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

points  in  isolation  with  extraordinary  clearness,  and 
can  describe  his  visions  with  unrivalled  skill ;  but  he 
has  not  the  logical  and  systematic  faculty  which  makes 
contradictory  things  intolerable."  After  some  discussion, 
the  motion  proposed  by  Principal  Eainy  was  carried  by 
a  majority  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three.  Thus,  for 
the  second  and  last  time,  Drummond  escaped  from  per- 
secution within  the  borders  of  his  Church, 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Scientific  Work. 

HOWEVER  Drummond  may  have  been  received  by 
the  men  of  the  scientific  world,  there  is  no  room 
for  doubt  as  to  our  right  to  designate  him  as  a  man 
of  science.  The  bent  of  the  man's  mind  was  scientific, 
and  when  we  review  the  contributions  he  was  able  to 
make  to  scientific  literature  we  are  further  confirmed  in 
our  view. 

At  the  outset,  we  are  reminded  of  the  distinctly 
scientific  tastes  and  proclivities  which  he  developed  in 
youth.  Unlike  many  others  of  scientific  temperament, 
his  appreciation  of  art  in  letters  and  in  life  was  a  keen 
one,  but  this  did  not  interfere  with  a  marked  bias 
towards  scientific  research  and  study.  His  earliest 
essay  in  writing  for  publication,  the  work  of  his  'teens, 
was  the  description  of  a  naturalist's  examination  of  a 
glen  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Stirling.  At  the  Uni- 
versity, his  favourite  class  was  that  of  geology,  and 
from  it  he  carried  off  the  first  prize,  gaining  at  the 
same  time  the  personal  esteem  of  his  teacher,  Professor 
Geikie,  and  offer  of  the  post  of  class  assistant.  At 
New  College,  the  class  of  Natural  Science  yielded  a 
crop  of  prizes. 

When  the  opportunity  arose,  he  chose  the  vocation  of 

Lecturer  on  Natural  Science  in  preference  to  that  of  the 

Christian  ministry,  for  which   his  general   studies  had 

17s 


176  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

been  intended  to  qualify  him.  Then,  in  1879,  he  was 
the  chosen  companion  of  Professor  Geikie  in  his  survey 
of  the  volcanic  phenomena  of  Western  North  America 
In  April  1880,  at  an  age  when  distinct  merit  and 
acknowledged  scholarship  could  alone  have  justified  his 
nomination,  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  that  eclectic 
corporation  of  exact  scientific  students,  the  Eoyal  Society 
of  Edinburgh,  —  Professor  Geikie,  Sir  William  Thom- 
son, Professor  M'Kendrick,  and  Sir  Eobert  Christison, 
all  accredited  scientists,  standing  as  sponsors  on  the 
occasion.  In  1883,  Ifatural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World 
was  hailed  throughout  the  English-speaking  world  as  the 
most  powerful  demonstration  of  the  possibility  of  laying 
Science  under  contribution  to  Eeligion  that  had  appeared 
since  the  publication,  many  years  before,  of  Dr.  Chalmers's 
Astronomical  Discourses.  Neither  theologians  nor  scientists 
were  willing,  ultimately,  to  acknowledge  that  he  had 
succeeded  in  demonstrating  the  identity  of  the  natural 
and  spiritual  laws ;  but  no  one  could  deny  that  he  had 
given  evidence  of  sufficient  grasp  of  the  ascertained  facts 
of  science  to  enable  him  to  restate  them  in  a  lucid  and 
masterly  manner. 

In  the  following  year,  1884,  he  established  a  further 
footing  in  public  esteem  as  a  man  of  science,  when  he 
brought  home  the  fruits  of  his  explorations  in  Central 
Africa.  At  the  Eoyal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  at  the 
Geological  Section  of  the  British  Association  in  1885, 
at  the  Eoyal  Dublin  Society,  and  elsewhere,  his  lectures 
on  the  white  ant,  on  the  geology  of  British  Central  Africa, 
on  the  mimicry  of  African  insects,  and  on  other  cognate 
topics — afterwards  brought  together  and  published  in 
Tropical  Africa — were  received  as  valuable  contributions 
to  the  reserve  of  those  data  for  which  science  is  ever  in 
search. 

By  this  time  his  evangelistic  work  had  begun  to  make 


SCIENTIFIC  WORK  177 

large  and  increasing  demands  on  his  leisure  time,  and  to 
develop  in  him  a  bias  towards  the  study  of  sociological 
problems ;  but  his  visit  to  the  New  Hebrides  and  Queens- 
land, in  1890,  gave  him  fresh  opportunities  for  studying 
primitive  man  in  his  proper  environment,  and  of  adjusting 
his  Evolutionary  views  in  the  light  of  hard  facts  and 
first-hand  information ;  and,  if  his  Ascent  of  Man  is 
adjudged  inconclusive  in  its  main  contention,  it  still 
remains  a  luminous  contribution  to  the  exposition  of 
Evolutionary  processes  of  thought,  and  findings  ad 
interim. 

At  the  least,  Drummond  would  seem  to  have  proved 
himself  no  mean  exponent  of  natural  science ;  as  well  as 
an  observer  of  uncommon  insight,  when  he  had  oppor- 
tunity for  making  use  of  his  gifts  in  this  direction,  his 
principal  limitation  lying  in  the  infrequency  of  such 
opportunity.  While  we  recall  these  facts,  and  make 
the  deductions  they  would  appear  to  warrant,  it  may 
be  well,  in  conclusion,  to  cite  the  opinion  of  Professor 
Macalister,  as  we  find  that  recorded  in  an  appreciation 
contributed  to  the  Bookman  in  April  1897  : — 

"Judged  by  the  value  of  the  research  embodied  in 
these  works,  the  scientific  results  of  his  life-work  are 
small.  What  he  has  done,  however,  shows  that  he  was 
capable,  if  so  minded,  of  carrying  on  original  research. 
Here  and  there  one  meets  with  passages  in  his  works, 
such  as  the  essay  on  Termites  in  his  Tropical  Africa, 
which  show  him  to  have  been  a  thoughtful  observer, 
who  was  able  not  only  to  note  phenomena,  but  also  to  see 
their  bearing  on  larger  biological  and  cosmical  problems. 
Had  his  lot  been  cast  in  the  field  of  laboratory  work,  I 
have  no  doubt  he  would  have  shown  that  he  possessed 
most  of  the  qualities  requisite  for  success  in  original 
research.  It  is,  I  think,  to  be  regretted  that  he  did  not 
12 


178  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

give  more  time  to  such  direct  scientific  work,  which 
would  have  been  the  best  disciphne  for  an  imagination 
which  tended  to  over  -  exuberance,  and  would  have 
restrained  him  from  allowing  his  fancy  to  range  further 
than  the  ascertained  facts  of  science  warranted. 

"  In  his  writings  Professor  Drummond  gives  to  the 
reader  the  impression  that  he  was  a  man  greater  than 
the  work  which  he  has  done,  who  is  not  to  be  measured 
only  by  the  nature  and  amount  of  that  work,  but  one 
from  whom  something  greater  might  well  have  been 
expected  than  what  he  had  actually  achieved.  His 
second  book  was,  in  my  judgment,  a  great  advance  upon 
its  predecessor,  and  I  had  hoped  that  it  was  but  the 
precursor  of  some  work  of  more  permanent  philosophical 
value,  but  it  was  not  to  be.  His  books  attracted  the 
public  attention  by  their  unique  blending  of  the  most 
thorough-going  evolutionism  with  as  thorough-going  an 
evangelicalism,  as  well  as  by  their  fascinating  literary 
style  and  their  happy  illustrations  of  the  themes  on 
which  he  wrote.  In  his  Natural  Law  in  the,  Spiritual 
World,  he  took  a  series  of  those  co-ordinations  of 
phenomena  which  are  called  laws  in  the  unsystematic 
phraseology  that  does  duty  for  philosophy  in  natural 
science,  and  used  these  to  illustrate  certain  phases  in  the 
spiritual  life  of  man,  magnifying  the  resemblances,  and 
treating  them  as  analogies.  The  aptness  of  his  com- 
parisons and  the  attractiveness  of  his  style  concealed 
the  intrinsic  weakness  of  the  thesis,  and  made  the  work 
interesting  even  to  those  who  are  unable  to  adopt  the 
underlying  hypothesis.  In  like  manner  he  has  treated 
the  central  idea  in  his  later  and  more  mature  work,  the 
evolution  of  an  ethical  altruism  from  the  natural  parental 
storge,  in  an  equally  attractive  and  elaborate  fashion. 

"  But  the  great  work  which  Henry  Drummond  has 
done    is    not    so    much    the    treatment    of    the    actual 


SCIENTIFIC  WORK  179 

hypotheses  set  forth  in  his  books,  but  he  has  made  it 
easier  for  those  within  the  Church  to  realise  that  a  man 
may  be  an  evolutionist  and  yet  consistently  hold  fast  his 
belief  in  Christianity,  that  his  zeal  and  success  in 
evangelistic  work,  especially  among  young  men,  may  be 
really  strengthened  thereby." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

With  Boys  and  Girls. 

THE  boy,  of  any  age,  and  of  any  class,  found  a 
"  chum "  in  Drummond,  and  he,  in  turn,  never 
wearied  in  observation  and  investigation  of  the  genus 
boy.  The  ready  understanding  at  which  he  and  his 
young  friends  speedily  arrived  can  best  be  attributed  to 
the  essential  boyishness  of  the  man.  Throughout  life, 
his  schoolboy  instincts  retained  their  pristine  ingenuous- 
ness and  bloom. 

His  intimate  friends  testify  to  his  capacity  for  the 
enjoyment  of  fun,  and  that  always  goes  a  long  way 
towards  the  establishment  of  the  friendliest  terms  in  a 
juvenile  company.  If  Drummond  was  in  the  house, 
children  were  wont  to  consider  no  one  else  of  equal 
importance.  He  had  a  rich  repertoire  of  conundrums 
and  stories  of  adventure ;  there  were  few  indoor  or 
outdoor  games  with  which  he  was  not  familiar ;  he 
would  lower  the  lights,  and  tell  thrilling  ghost-stories 
which  had  irresistibly  funny  denouements.  Of  his  social 
qualities,  one  who  saw  much  of  him  has  written : — 
"  To  the  child  in  the  nursery  to  whom  he  brought  a 
doll's  perambulator,  to  the  student  to  whom  he  gave  an 
imaginary  set  of  class  examination  questions,  to  the  tired 
mother  whom  he  sent  out  for  a  long  drive  whilst  he 
kept  the  house  to  receive  callers,  to  the  visitors  with 
whom  he  played  '  Assassins  '  or  '  Up  Jenkins,'  his  coming 

i8o 


WITH  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  i8i 

was  ever  like  sunshine  on  a  cloudy  day.  He  wanted 
bean  bags  to  entertain  a  company  of  students,  and  wrote 
on  a  post-card : —  *  What  are  Bean  Bags  made  of  ? — 
Muslin,  Flannel,  Wincey,  Tool,  Jane,  Point-lace  ? — What 
is  the  size  of  Bean  Bags  ? — What  kind  of  Beans  is  put 
into  Bean  Bags  ? — Yours  Leguminously,  H.  D.*  In 
exchange,  we  received  from  him  the  '  Giant  Sneeze,' 
'  Eocket/  etc." 

The  following  examination  questions  and  accompany- 
ing letter  were  sent  by  him  to  a  young  friend  on 
hearing  from  him  that  his  brother  was  being  examined 
for  entrance  to  a  public  school : — 

"My  dear  Sir, — Your  esteemed  order  to  hand.  I 
enclose  three  papers  which  I  trust  will  be  suitable. 
The  person  being  examined  should  have  a  wet  towel 
round  his  head,  and  be  fed  hourly  on  lucifer  matches, 
as  the  strain  of  answering  will  be  great,  and  calls  for 
much  renewal  of  phosphorus. — Yours  respectfully, 

"A.  Adrien  Auld." 


EXAMINATION  PAPEES. 

Domestic  Economy. 
One  Hour. 

1.  What  is  the  retail  price  of  sausages? 

2.  Name  the  two  best  brands  of  shortbread.     What  is  Long- 

bread,  and  how  does  it  differ  from  Highbread  ? 

3.  Discuss  the  following :  "  Has  the  Discoverer  of  Chloroform 

or  of  Bean  Bags  done  most  for  humanity  1 " 

4.  How  would  you  spend  twopence  if  you  got  it?     Subtract 

a  halfpenny  from  twopence  and  parse  the  remainder. 


i82  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

History. 
One  Hour. 

1.  Give  a  short  live  of  Piggott. 

2.  "When   was   Major   Whittle   born?      Contrast   him  briefly 

with  Wellington,  Napoleon,  General  Booth,  General  Tom 
Thumb,  and  the  General  Supply  Stores. 

3.  Who  was  Lord  Fauntleroy  ?  and  name  his  chief  battles. 

4.  How  long  did  it  take  Dante  to  climb  the  mountain,  and 

what  is  the  shortest  time  it  has  ever  been  done  in  ?     Who 
first  beat  Dante's  record  ? 

5.  Are  you  a  Home-Ruler,  and  if  so,  why  not. 

Physiology. 
One  Hour. 

1.  What  was  the  number  of  your  bed  in  the  Fever  Hospital  1 

State  the  reason. 

2.  Of  what  hygienic  substance  is  it  recorded  that  "  He  won't 

be  happy  till  he  gets  it  "  ? 

3.  Where  was  your  face  before  it  was  washed  ? 

4.  Define  the  term  "Gotyourhaircut";  and  say  if  Red  Hair  is 

Hair-reditary  ? 

Drummond  took  a  deep  and  intimate  interest  in 
the  work  and  schemes  of  the  Onward  and  Upward 
Association,  founded  by  his  friends  Lord  and  Lady 
Aberdeen  for  the  stimulus  of  homely  gifts  and  graces, 
and  simple  Christian  piety,  in  scattered  households. 
He  was  always  ready  with  suggestion  and  help  in 
regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  organ  of  the  Association, 
Omuard  and  Ujnvard,  and  when  a  periodical  was 
projected  for  the  very  young  children  in  the  homes 
reached  by  the  Onward  and  Upward  Association,  he 
brought  his  familiar  acquaintance  with  juvenile  tastes 


WITH  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  183 

to  bear  on  the  selection  of  "  features "  for  the  new 
magazine,  deliberated  with  his  friends  in  the  choice  of 
a  suitable  title,  and  rejoiced  when  that  of  Wee  Willie 
Winkie  was  fixed  upon. 

In  the  winter  of  1891—92,  during  the  temporary 
absence  in  Canada  of  Lady  Aberdeen  and  her  little 
daughter,  the  "  editor  "  of  Wee  Willie  Winkie,  he  even 
undertook  the  interim  editorship  of  this  bright  little 
periodical;  writing  editorials  to  suit  the  tastes  and 
limited  development  of  his  young  readers,  drawing 
upon  his  stores  of  puzzles  and  conundrums,  getting  up 
competitions,  and,  finally,  contributing  to  its  columns 
his  one  essay  in  the  realm  of  fiction — the  artfully  art- 
less story  of  "  The  Monkey  that  would  not  Kill,"  with 
its  sequel,  "  Gum."  Two  or  three  short  quotations  from 
his  editorials  will  best  demonstrate  the  ease  with  which 
he  could  suit  himself  to  his  little  readers. 

"  What  is  the  use  of  a  wind-mill  on  days  when  there 
is  no  wind  blowing  ?  Very  little,  only  if  they  are  well 
made  the  least  puff  will  set  them  spinning.  But  if  the 
wind  is  really  '  on  strike '  you  can  always  have  the  corn 
ground,  or  the  pump  worked,  by  having  a  water-mill  in 
reserve.  They  are  easily  made  out  of  *  bobbins.'  Ask 
your  mother  for  two  or  three  old  reels,  and  set  to  work. 
Have  bands  of  tape  from  the  axle  of  the  water-wheel — 
made  of  the  biggest  '  bobbin '  with  '  floats  '  let  into  it 
— to  the  other  '  bobbin.'  You  can  add  a  saw-mill,  and  a 
lot  of  other  machinery  if  the  water-wheel  will  only  work 
well. 

"  Of  course  you  must  ask  special  permission  to  be 
allowed  to  play  with  water.  If  there  is  no  burn  near 
your  home,  perhaps  you  will  be  allowed  to  try  it  in  the 
'  sink, '  or  in  the  bath.  But  don't  get  wet  and  catch 
cold,  or  you  will  not  be  allowed  to  read   Wee   Willie 


i84  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Winhie  any  more  for  putting  such  ideas  into  your 
head. 

"  This  is  the  best  time  to  make  skeleton  leaves.  You 
have  to  soak  all  the  skin  off,  and  leave  nothing  but  the 
framework  on  which  they  are  stretched — like  taking  the 
cloth  off  an  umbrella  and  leaving  the  ribs.  But  I  declare 
I  am  talking  about  water  again.  See  that  you  don't 
soak  your  clean  pinafore." 

"  We  got  a  great  fright  the  other  day.  A  letter 
came  from  one  of  our  small  correspondents  with  the 
word  '  Irricedjjit ! '  glaring  on  the  corner  of  the  envelope. 
Thinking  something  dreadful  had  happened,  we  tore  it 

open,  to  find  that  it  was  only  Alice  P 's  white  mouse 

which  had  broken  loose  and  eaten  a  bit  of  a  Shorter 
Catechism  !  Well,  Alice  (age — 6),  that  was  certainly  a 
most  sensational  incident,  and  we  are  much  relieved  to 
know  that  it  was  nothing  worse.  We  hope  mousie  read 
the  Eighth  Commandment  as  he  browsed  along.  If  the 
mice  tribe  in  general  would  only  learn  the  Eighth 
Commandment  it  would  save  us  a  great  deal  of  breaking 
of  the  Sixth." 

"  It  is  most  kind  of  those  who  get  prizes  to  write  such 
pretty  notes  back  to  thank  us  for  them.  This  courtesy 
is  so  good  a  thing  that  we  do  not  like  to  tell  anyone  not 
to  do  it.  But  we  must  make  a  bargain.  To  spend  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  Prize  in  acknowledging  it,  is 
almost  too  much ;  and  we  shall  henceforth  never  expect 
more  from  our  prize-winners  than  a  half -penny  postcard. 
We  would  not  ask  even  this,  only  it  seems  a  good  rule 
with  older  people  that  money  should  always  he  acknowledged 
when  sent  by  post,  and  little  men  and  little  women  may 
find  this  an  easy  way  to  learn  it.  A  good  habit  acquired 
is  worth  at  least  a  half-penny." 

"  A  Christmas  tree  should  be  a  profound  mystery  to 
everybody  in  the  house  till  the  very  last  moment.    Then, 


WITH  BOYS  AND  GIRLS  185 

when  you  pull  the  curtain,  when  all  are  assembled,  and 
wondering  whatever  it  is  to  be,  you  will  see  what  a 
surprise  you  give  them. 

"  We  would  not  be  '  stuck '  if  we  were  you,  even  if  you 
cannot  manage  to  get  a  tree.  Why  not  mahe  a  tree  ? 
We  think  it  would  be  capital  fun  making  a  tree — with 
sticks,  and  green  tissue  paper,  and  things.  We  hope  if 
any  of  Wee  Willie  WinJcie's  clever  boy  or  girl  friends  try 
it,  they  will  write  a  full  account  of  it,  to  be  printed  in 
our  magazine.  We  are  even  wicked  enough  to  hope  that 
someone  will  not  have  a  real  tree,  so  that  we  may  have 
the  pleasure  of  reading  how  they  made  up  for  it." 

At  the  time  that  Drummond  acted  as  editor  of  Wee 
Willie  Winkie,  he  also  assumed  the  editorial  charge  of 
Onward  and  Upivard  itself  for  Lady  Aberdeen. 

In  the  second  and  following  seasons  of  the  Edinburgh 
Students'  Movement,  Drummond  inaugurated  Sunday 
Afternoon  meetings  for  Edinburgh  schoolboys.  The  original 
intention  was  that  only  one  or  two  gatherings  should 
be  held,  but  his  reception  was  so  enthusiastic  that  he 
was  constrained  to  continue  them,  especially  as  he 
believed  that  he  saw  "  signs  following."  A  meeting  for 
schoolgirls  was  also  organised ;  but,  strangely  enough, 
his  success  with  boys  and  young  men  was  not  followed 
up  when  he  addressed  audiences  of  the  other  sex. 

Social  position  made  no  difference  on  the  intensity  of 
Drummond's  readiness  to  avail  himself  of  opportunities 
for  getting  alongside  of  boys.  He  paid  frequent  visits 
to  a  boys'  club  in  the  slums  of  Edinburgh  ;  and,  one 
winter,  in  the  temporary  absence  of  the  teacher  of  the 
club's  Bible-class,  himself  carried  on  its  work  for  a 
number  of  weeks,  dropping  in  after  his  meeting  for 
students.  For  the  lads  of  this  club  he  promised  to  write 
an  "  Association  "  book,  on  the  lines  of  his  cricket  book, 


i86  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Baxter's  Second  Innings,  but  this  purpose  was  never 
accomplished.  One  who  visited  the  chib  in  company 
with  Drummond  has  furnished  us  with  the  following 
description.  "  I  shall  always  remember  him  sitting 
there  faultlessly  dressed,  and  a  contrast  in  almost  every 
respect  to  all  these  poor  chaps ;  and  yet  absolutely  one 
with  them,  and  somehow  making  each  of  them  feel 
entirely  at  his  ease  and  eager  to  talk.  If  he  showed 
any  '  method '  on  this  occasion,  it  was  this — getting 
these  fellows  to  talk,  so  that  they  all  felt  '  in  it.'  Then, 
after  a  bit,  Drummond  talked  himself,  but  all  in  line 
of  the  conversation  already  established.  The  club  had 
just  distinguished  itself  at  football;  and  Drummond 
simply  gloried  in  the  fact — without  in  the  least  over- 
doing the  thing — then  passed  on  so  easily,  in  his  own 
wonderful  way,  to  speak  of  Christ ;  how  there  was  that 
way  of  getting  distinction  by  self-sacrifice  ;  how  Christ's 
name  was  above  every  name.  The  scene  of  that  low- 
roofed  room  and  these  poor  lads — left  with  a  new 
wonder  in  their  hearts,  and  a  new  hope  about  them- 
selves— will  always  remain  in  my  mind  as  something 
where  it  was  quite  natural  to  find  Drummond  in  the 
centre."  The  lads  of  that  class  "simply  adored" 
Drummond.  They  were  wont  to  comment  upon  his 
wonderful  eyes. 

We  have  still  to  give  some  account  of  Drummond's 
extensive  work  for  boys  in  connection  with  the  Boys' 
Brigade,  but  that  may  well  form  the  subject  of  a  separate 
chapter. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

For  The  Boys'  Brigade. 

AS  an  ideal  method  of  evangelism  among  his  friends 
the  boys,  Drummond  welcomed  the  Boys'  Brigade 
as  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  made  the  acquaintance  of  its 
founder,  Mr.  W.  A.  Smith,  of  Glasgow,  and  familiarised 
himself  with  the  details  of  its  operations.  Second  only, 
perhaps,  to  the  Students'  Movement,  in  later  years,  it 
commanded  his  active  and  untiring  assistance,  both  in 
work  among  Brigade  boys  and  in  advocacy  of  its  exten- 
sion, on  every  opportunity  that  offered  itself. 

It  is  fortunately  in  our  power  to  quote  extensively 
from  Drummond's  speeches  and  writings  on  the  subject 
of  the  Brigade ;  and,  as  far  as  possible,  we  avail  our- 
selves of  the  facilities  afforded. 

The  Brigade  first  came  to  his  notice  in  1885,  about 
two  years  after  its  inception.  From  that  date  onwards, 
he  took  the  keenest  interest  in  its  working.  He  became 
its  honorary  vice-president.  He  was  a  frequent  visitor 
at  headquarters,  ready  with  advice  and  suggestion.  He 
was  willing  at  any  time  to  address  a  company  at  Bible- 
class  or  drill  parade,  always  stipulating  that,  if  possible, 
he  should  get  the  boys  to  himself.  The  1st  Glasgow 
(that  of  Free  College  Church  Mission),  5  th  Glasgow 
(Renfield  Free  Church  Mission),  and  76  th  Glasgow 
(Hillhead  Baptist  Church  Mission),  were  the  companies 
most  frequently  assisted  in  this  personal  manner. 

187 


i88  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Baxter's  Second  Innings,  a  cricket  allegory,  was  written 
for  the  Brigade,  and  served  to  bring  him  in  touch  with 
all  its  boys.  As  those  who  have  read  this  charming 
little  book  will  recollect,  the  temptations  of  the  individual 
boy  were  its  theme ;  and  to  put  its  lessons  to  a  practical 
use,  Drummond  invited  the  boys  of  the  Brigade  to  write 
letters  to  "  Baxter,"  narrating  their  chief  temptations 
and  their  experience  of  the  best  way  to  meet  them. 
The  invitation  was  put  in  the  form  of  a  Christmas-gift 
book  competition,  prizes  were  offered,  and  the  directions 
to  competitors  were  as  follows : — 

"  Begin  the  letter  '  Dear  Baxter,'  and  write  just  as 
one  boy  would  write  to  another. 

"  Be  as  long  as  you  like,  or  as  short,  only  be  real. 

"  Never  mind  books ;  write  out  of  the  book  of  your 
own  life  and  your  own  experieuce. 

"  Say  exactly  what  you  know  and  think,  and  do  not  be 
afraid  to  say  anything. 

"  Do  not  let  anyone  help  you." 

The  first  of    these  competitions  was  held   in    1892, 

and,  in  all,  three  hundred  and  fifty-nine    letters  were 

received.     Drummond  himself  acted    as  judge.      After 

the   prize    list,   the    following    letter    from    Drummond 

appeared : — 

"68  Bath  Street,  Glasgow, 
"  20th  April  1S92. 

"  My  DEiR  Comrades, — It's  awfully  good  of  so  many 
of  you  fellows  writing  me.  I  never  thought  before  that 
other  boys  had  the  same  temptations,  or  so  many  of 
them,  as  I  have.  I  do  believe  every  boy  thinks  that 
he  is  more  tempted  than  anyone  else,  though  of  course 
that  can't  be  true.  Anyhow  we  have  each  our  hands 
full,  and  I  mean  to  fight  like  a  tiger  for  the  rest  of  my 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  189 

life.  At  first  it  was  dreadful  to  think  that  temptation 
would  go  on  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  but  I  am  sure 
I  almost  hope  it  is  true,  for  I  never  felt  so  happy  as  I 
do  now.  Since  I  got  a  little  into  the  way  of  standing 
up  against  it  I  just  feel  like  General  Gordon.  Sometimes 
I  could  almost  burst. 

"  I  don't  mean  that  I  always  win,  for  I  am  sorry  to 
say  I  do  not.  I  came  a  very  bad  cropper  last  week,  and 
was  almost  giving  it  all  up,  but  somehow  I  got  pulled 
together  again.  I  suppose  I  was  getting  too  cock-sure, 
for  that's  about  as  bad  a  thing  as  could  be.  I'm  gettincr 
on  Al  just  now,  though  I  don't  want  to  say  much.  If 
there's  one  thing  I  hate  it's  a  prig,  and  I  hope  you  won't 
think  I'm  trying  to  make  myself  out  a  good  boy.  A 
fighting  boy — that's  what  I  am.  I  once  used  to  smoke 
to  make  me  feel  like  a  man,  but  I've  found  out  that 
the  way  to  feel  a  man  is  to  stick  up  to  temptation. 
Smoking  just  makes  you  feel  an  ass.  I  shall  perhaps 
smoke  when  I'm  twenty-one,  I  don't  know;  perhaps 
not.  What's  sin  for  a  boy  is  not  sin  for  a  man,  though 
I  daresay  they're  better  without  it.  Anyhow  I  can 
always  feel  a  man  just  when  I  like,  smoke  or  no  smoke. 

"  I'm  not  so  down  on  companions  as  some  of  you 
fellows  seem  to  be.  I  was  once  in  a  bad  lot,  and  then 
I  cut  them,  and  got  into  a  new  set.  We  thought  our- 
selves very  superior,  and  woild  scarcely  speak  to  the 
others.  But  I  began  to  think  it  shabby  to  leave  all 
these  fellows  in  the  lurch.  They  were  good-hearted 
fellows  at  bottom,  and  one  of  them  was  so  comic  that 
I  don't  think  I  ever  liked  a  boy  half  so  much.  One 
Sunday  night  when  I  was  thinking  that  perhaps  each 
of  them  had  the  same  secret  fight  going  on  under  his 
waistcoat  that  I  had,  and  the  same  conscience  telling 
him  to  keep  straight,  I  felt  a  kind  of  lump  in  my  throat, 
and  a  longing  came  over  me  to  make  up  to  them  and 


I  go 


HENRY  DRUMMOND 


try  to  get  them  to  join  us.  I  began  with  the  Comic, 
and  you  should  just  have  heard  his  chajpf  for  the  first 
week  or  two.  But  somehow  they  began  to  swing  round 
a  bit,  and  by  and  by  they  were  all  on  our  side  but  two. 
I  think  it's  low  not  doing  something  for  other  fellows, 
and  I  don't  think  I  ever  got  on  so  swimmingly  as  that 
time.  I  am  very  glad  that  Comic  became  a  Christian. 
I  think  he  is  now  more  comic  than  ever,  and  if  only  the 
dull  fellows  are  going  to  become  Christians  I  don't  think 
I  could  stand  it  long.  I  think  the  fellows  who  are  best 
at  everything,  specially  games,  should  be  Christians. 

"  But  I  am  making  this  letter  too  long.  Our  Captain, 
besides  making  eighty-seven  against  the  Wanderers,  is 
very  clever.  I  don't  think  there  was  ever  anyone  so 
straight.  I  don't  believe  he  knows  it,  but  he  does  heaps 
of  good.  If  he  writes  you  a  letter,  there's  a  blue  crest 
on  the  top,  and  below  it  the  words,  '  Be  thorough.'  I'm 
sure  that's  what  he  is.  I  only  once  got  a  letter  from 
him  in  my  life,  and  this  was  all  it  said :  '  Private. — 
PEAY  LIKE  ANYTHING.'  I  used  to  think  that  prayer  was 
rather  rot.  But  now  that  I  have  begun  to  fight  it  has 
become  real,  I  can't  pray  long  at  once,  but  I  think  it's 
like  lightning  and  doesn't  take  time.  A  Life  of  Christ 
did  me  a  lot  of  good.  Somehow  when  you  think  of 
Jesus  Christ  you  cannot  be  mean  or  bad.  I  never 
thought  the  Bible  was  fit  to  read  before.  Some  parts, 
I  honestly  admit,  are  dry  enough — that  is  to  me — but 
there  are  some  splendid  bits.  I  hope  if  any  of  you 
have  any  other  tips  you  will  hand  them  on  to  me.  I 
don't  know  much  yet.  Your  letters  have  been  a  great 
help.  It  feels  quite  different  fighting  when  you  know 
that  there  are  thousands  of  other  boys  all  at  it  too.  It 
was  awful  lonesome  before,  and  I'm  fearfully  grateful  to 
you  alL — Yours  very  gratefully, 

"Feed  Baxter." 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  191 

"  F.S. — If  any  of  you  fellows  would  like  to  write 
me  about  anything  I  hope  you  will  do  it.  Probably  I 
couldn't  answer  your  questions,  unless  you  are  a  small 
boy ;  but  I  would  hand  on  your  difficulty  to  the 
Captain.     I  think  he  knows  everything. — F.  B." 

"These  were  genuine  productions,  fresh  from  the 
virgin  mine  of  boys'  minds,"  he  told  the  mothers  of  the 
Onward  and  Upward  Association  in  1894.  "The  boys 
thought  they  were  writing  to  another  boy,  and  un- 
burdened themselves  freely,  so  that  the  letters  repre- 
sented the  actual  dissection  of  the  boy  soul.  Amongst 
other  things  they  were  to  state  in  these  letters  what 
influences  chiefly  kept  them  from  going  to  the  bad. 
Not  one  boy  out  of  them  all  mentioned  his  minister. 
I  do  not  propose  to  qualify  that,  or  to  explain  it  away, 
or  to  say  how  many  thousands  of  boys  in  the  country 
are  being  and  have  been  influenced  by  the  ministry. 
I  simply  state  the  fact.  About  a  dozen  of  the  boys 
referred  to  the  influence  of  their  master  in  business ;  a 
number  of  them  referred  to  the  influence  of  their  captain 
in  the  Brigade ;  almost  none  of  them  alluded  to  their 
fathers,  but  multitudes  of  them  referred  to  the  influence 
of  their  mothers." 

Baxters  Second  Innings  was  later  published  in  book 
form,  and  found  an  even  wider  public.  A  copy  sent  to 
a  daily  paper  was  handed  to  the  sporting  critic  for 
review,  so  little  did  title  or  get-up  suggest  a  "  religious 
talk."  Of  this  published  issue,  30,000  copies  had  been 
sold  at  the  time  of  Drummond's  death. 

His  address  to  a  church  parade  of  the  Eastern 
Division  of  the  Glasgow  Battalion,  on  Sunday,  21st 
April  1889,  has  been  more  than  once  issued  to  the 
boys  of  the  Brigade  as  a  Christmas-gift  book,  under 
the  title  of  First.     This  ideal  address  gives  such  a  first- 


192  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

hand  and  authentic  illustration  of  Drummond's  method  of 
approaching  the  boy  on  religious  questions,  that  we  may 
be  permitted  to  give  it  very  full  quotation  here. 

After  calling  attention  to  his  text  (Matt.  vi.  33), 
Drummond  continued : — 

"  I  have  three  heads  to  give  you.  The  first  is 
'  Geography,'  the  second  is  '  Arithmetic,'  and  the  third 
is  '  Grammar.' 

Geography. 

"First. — Geography  tells  us  where  to  find  places. 
Where  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  ?  It  was  said  that  when 
a  Prussian  officer  was  killed  in  the  Franco-Prussian  war, 
a  map  of  France  was  very  often  found  in  his  pocket. 
When  we  wish  to  occupy  a  country,  we  ought  to  know 
its  geography.  Now,  where  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  ? 
A  boy  over  there  says,  '  It  is  in  heaven.'  No ;  it  is  not 
in  heaven.  Another  boy  says, '  It  is  in  the  Bible.'  No  ; 
it  is  not  in  the  Bible.  Another  boy  says,  '  It  must  be 
in  the  Church.'  No ;  it  is  not  in  the  Church.  Heaven 
is  only  the  capital  of  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  the  Bible  is 
the  Guide-book  to  it ;  the  Church  is  the  weekly  parade 
of  those  who  belong  to  it.  If  you  will  turn  up  the 
seventeenth  chapter  of  Luke  you  will  find  out  where 
the  Kingdom  of  God  really  is.  '  The  Kingdom  of  God 
is  within  you' — within  you.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is 
inside  people. 

"  I  remember  once  taking  a  walk  by  the  river  near 
where  the  Falls  of  Niagara  are,  and  I  noticed  a  remark- 
able figure  walking  along  the  river-bank.  I  had  been 
some  time  in  America.  I  had  seen  black  men,  and  red 
men,  and  yellow  men,  and  white  men :  black  men,  the 
Negroes ;  red  men,  the  Indians ;  yellow  men,  the 
Chinese ;    white   men,   the   Americans.     But    this  man 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  193 

looked  quite  different  in  his  dress  from  anything  I  had 
ever  seen.  When  he  came  a  little  closer,  I  saw  he  was 
wearing  a  kilt ;  when  he  came  a  little  nearer  still,  I  saw 
that  he  was  dressed  exactly  like  a  Highland  soldier. 
When  he  came  quite  near,  I  said  to  him,  '  What  are  you 
doing  here  ? '  '  Why  should  I  not  be  here  ? '  he  said. 
*  Don't  you  know  this  is  British  soil  ?  When  you  cross 
the  river  you  come  into  Canada '  This  soldier  was 
thousands  of  miles  from  England,  and  yet  he  was  in 
the  Kingdom  of  England.  Wherever  there  is  an  English 
heart  beating  loyal  to  the  Queen  of  Britain,  there  is 
England.  Wherever  there  is  a  boy  whose  heart  is  loyal 
to  the  King  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  within  him. 

"  What  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  ?  Every  Kingdom 
has  its  exports,  its  products.  Go  down  to  the  river 
here,  and  you  will  find  ships  coming  in  with  cotton; 
you  know  they  come  from  America.  You  will  find  ships 
with  tea ;  you  know  they  are  from  China.  Ships  with 
wool,  you  know  they  come  from  Australia.  Ships  with 
sugar;  you  know  they  come  from  Java.  What  comes 
from  the  Kingdom  of  God  ?  Again  we  must  refer  to  our 
Guide-book.  Turn  up  Eomans,  and  we  shall  find  what 
the  Kingdom  of  God  is.  I  shall  read  it : — '  The  King- 
dom of  God  is  righteousness,  peace,  joy ' — three  things. 
'  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness,  peace,  joy.' 
Righteousness,  of  course,  is  just  doing  what  is  right. 
Any  boy  who  does  what  is  right  has  the  Kingdom 
of  God  within  him.  Any  boy  who,  instead  of  being 
quarrelsome,  lives  at  peace  with  the  other  boys,  has  the 
Kingdom  of  God  within  him.  Any  boy  whose  heart  is 
filled  with  joy  because  he  does  what  is  right,  has  the 
Kingdom  of  God  within  him.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is 
not  going  to  religious  meetings,  and  having  strange 
religious  experiences :  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  doing 
13 


194  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

what  is  right  —  living  at  peace  with  all  men,  being 
filled  with  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

"  Boys,  if  you  are  going  to  be  Christians,  be  Christians 
as  boys,  and  not  as  your  grandmothers.  A  grandmother 
has  to  be  a  Christian  as  a  grandmother,  and  that  is  the 
right  and  the  beautiful  thing  for  her ;  but  if  you  cannot 
read  your  Bible  by  the  hour  as  your  grandmother  can, 
or  delight  in  meetings  as  she  can,  don't  think  you  are 
necessarily  a  bad  boy.  When  you  are  your  grand- 
mother's age  you  will  have  your  grandmother's  kind 
of  religion.  Meantime,  be  a  Christian  as  a  boy.  Live 
a  boy's  life.  Do  the  straight  thing ;  seek  the  Kingdom 
of  righteousness  and  honour  and  truth.  Keep  the  peace 
with  the  boys  about  you,  and  be  filled  with  the  joy  of 
being  a  loyal,  and  simple,  and  natural,  and  boy-like 
servant  of  Christ. 

"  You  can  very  easily  tell  a  house,  or  a  workshop,  or 
an  office  where  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not.  The  first 
thing  you  see  in  that  place  is  that  the  '  straight  thing ' 
is  not  always  done.  Customers  do  not  get  fairplay. 
You  are  in  danger  of  learning  to  cheat  and  to  lie. 
Better,  a  thousand  times,  to  starve  than  to  stay  in  a 
place  where  you  cannot  do  what  is  right. 

"  Or,  when  you  go  into  your  workshop,  you  find 
everybody  sulky,  touchy,  and  ill-tempered,  everybody  at 
daggers-drawn  with  everybody  else,  some  of  the  men 
not  on  speaking  terms  with  some  of  the  others,  and  the 
whole  fed  of  the  place  miserable  and  unhappy,  the  King- 
dom of  God  is  not  there,  for  it  is  peace.  It  is  the  King- 
dom of  the  Devil  that  is  anger,  and  wrath,  and  malice. 

"  If  you  want  to  get  the  Kingdom  of  God  into  your 
workshop,  or  into  your  home,  let  the  quarrelling  be 
stopped.  Live  in  peace  and  harmony  and  brotherliness 
with  everyone.  For  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  a  Kingdom 
of  brothers.     It  is  a  great  Society,  founded  by  Jesus 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  195 

Christ,  of  all  the  people  who  try  to  live  like  Him, 
and  to  make  the  world  better  and  sweeter  and  happier. 
Wherever  a  boy  is  trying  to  do  that,  in  the  house  or  in 
the  street,  in  the  workshop  or  on  the  football  field,  there 
is  the  Kingdom  of  God.  And  every  boy,  however  small 
or  obscure  or  poor,  who  is  seeking  that,  is  a  member  of 
it.     You  see  now,  I  hope,  what  the  Kingdom  is. 

Arithmetic. 

"  I  pass,  therefore,  to  the  second  head.  What  was  it  ? 
'Arithmetic'  Are  there  any  arithmetic  words  in  this 
text  ?  '  Added,'  says  one  boy.  Quite  right,  added. 
What  other  arithmetic  word  ?  *  First.'  Yes,  first — 
*  first,'  '  added.'  Now,  don't  you  think  you  could  not 
have  anything  better  to  seek  '  first '  than  the  things  I 
have  named — to  do  what  is  right,  to  live  at  peace,  and 
be  always  making  those  about  you  happy  ?  You  see  at 
once  why  Christ  tells  us  to  seek  these  things  first — 
because  they  are  the  best  worth  seeking.  Do  you  know 
anything  better  than  these  three  things,  anything 
happier,  purer,  nobler  ?  If  you  do,  seek  them  first. 
But  if  you  do  not,  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God.  I 
am  not  here  this  afternoon  to  tell  you  to  be  religious. 
You  know  that.  I  am  not  here  to  tell  you  to  seek  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  I  have  come  to  tell  you  to  seek  the 
Kingdom  of  God_^7's;!.  First.  Not  many  people  do  that. 
They  put  a  little  religion  into  their  life — once  a  week, 
perhaps.  They  might  just  as  well  let  it  alone.  It  is 
not  worth  seeking  the  Kingdom  of  God  unless  we  seek 
it  first.  Suppose  you  take  the  helm  out  of  a  ship  and 
hang  it  over  the  bows,  and  send  that  ship  to  sea,  will 
it  ever  reach  the  other  side  ?  Certainly  not.  It  will 
drift  about  anyhow.  Keep  religion  in  its  place,  and  it 
will  take  you  straight  through  life,  and  straight  to  your 


196  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Father  in  heaven  when  life  is  over.  But  if  you  do  not 
put  it  in  its  place,  you  may  just  as  well  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it,  Keligion  out  of  its  place  in  a  human  life  is 
the  most  miserable  thing  in  the  world.  There  is  nothing 
that  requires  so  much  to  be  kept  in  its  place  as  religion, 
and  its  place  is  what  ?  second  ?  third  ?  '  First.'  Boys, 
carry  that  home  with  you  to-day — first  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Make  it  so  that  it  will  be  natural  to  you  to  think 
about  that  the  very  first  thing. 

"  There  was  a  boy  in  Glasgow  apprenticed  to  a  gentle- 
man who  made  telegraphs.  The  gentleman  told  me 
this  himself.  One  day  this  boy  was  up  on  the  top  of  a 
four-storey  house  with  a  number  of  men  fixing  up  a  tele- 
graph wire.  The  work  was  all  but  done.  It  was  getting 
late,  and  the  men  said  they  were  going  away  home,  and 
the  boy  was  to  nip  off  the  ends  of  the  wire  himself. 
Before  going  down  they  told  him  to  be  sure  to  go  back 
to  the  workshop  when  he  was  finished,  with  his  master's 
tools.  '  Do  not  leave  any  of  them  lying  about,  whatever 
you  do,'  said  the  foreman.  The  boy  climbed  up  the  pole 
and  began  to  nip  off  the  ends  of  the  wire.  It  was  a 
very  cold  winter  night,  and  the  dusk  was  gathering. 
He  lost  his  hold  and  fell  upon  the  slates,  slid  down,  and 
then  over  and  over  to  the  ground  below.  A  clothes- 
rope  stretched  across  the  '  green  '  on  to  which  he  was  just 
about  to  fall,  caught  him  on  the  chest  and  broke  his 
fall ;  but  the  shock  was  terrible,  and  he  lay  unconscious 
among  some  clothes  upon  the  green.  An  old  woman 
came  out ;  seeing  her  rope  broken  and  the  clothes  all 
soiled,  thought  the  boy  was  drunk,  shook  him,  scolded 
him,  and  went  for  the  policeman.  And  the  boy  with 
the  shaking  came  back  to  consciousness,  rubbed  his  eyes, 
got  upon  his  feet.  What  do  you  think  he  did  ?  He 
staggered,  half  blind,  away  up  the  stairs.  He  climbed 
the  ladder.     He  got  on  to  the  roof  of  the  house.     He 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  197 

gathered  up  his  tools,  put  them  into  his  basket,  took 
them  down,  and,  when  he  got  to  the  ground  again, 
fainted  dead  away.  Just  then  the  policeman  came,  saw 
there  was  something  seriously  wrong,  and  carried  him 
away  to  the  infirmary,  where  he  lay  for  some  time.  I 
am  glad  to  say  he  got  better.  What  was  his  first 
thought  at  that  terrible  moment  ?  His  duty.  He  was 
not  thinking  of  himself ;  he  was  thinking  about  his 
master.     First,  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

"  But  there  is  another  arithmetic  word.  What  is  it  ? 
*  Added.'  There  is  not  one  boy  here  who  does  not  know 
the  difl'erence  between  addition  and  sulti'adion.  Now, 
that  is  a  very  important  difference  in  religion,  because — 
and  it  is  a  very  strange  thing — very  few  people  know 
the  difference  when  they  begin  to  talk  about  religion. 
They  often  tell  boys  that  if  they  seek  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  everything  else  is  going  to  be  subtracted  from  them. 
They  tell  them  that  they  are  going  to  become  gloomy, 
miserable,  and  will  lose  everything  that  makes  a  boy's 
life  worth  living — that  they  will  have  to  stop  football 
and  story-books,  and  become  little  old  men,  and  spend 
all  their  time  in  going  to  meetings  and  in  singing 
hymns.  Now,  that  is  not  true.  Christ  never  said 
anything  like  that.  Christ  says  we  are  to  '  Seek  first 
the  Kingdom  of  God,'  and  everything  else  worth  having 
is  to  be  added  unto  us.  If  there  is  anything  I  would 
like  you  to  take  away  with  you  this  afternoon,  it  is 
these  two  arithmetic  words — *  first '  and  '  added.'  I  do 
not  mean  by  added  that  if  you  become  religious  you 
are  all  going  to  become  rich.  Here  is  a  boy,  who,  in 
sweeping  out  the  shop  to-morrow  morning,  finds  six- 
pence lying  among  the  orange  boxes.  Well,  nobody 
has  missed  it.  He  puts  it  in  his  pocket,  and  it  begins 
to  burn  a  hole  there.  By  breakfast-time  he  wishes 
that    sixpence  were   in   his    master's  pocket.     And   by 


igS  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

and  by  he  goes  to  his  master.  He  says  (to  himself 
and  not  to  his  master),  '  I  was  at  the  Boys'  Brigade 
yesterday,  and  I  was  told  to  ^e&k  first  that  which  was 
right.'  Then  he  says  to  his  master,  '  Please,  sir,  here 
is  sixpence  that  I  found  upon  the  floor.'  The  master 
puts  it  in  the  '  till.'  What  has  the  boy  got  in  his 
pocket  ?  Nothing ;  hut  he  has  got  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  his  heart.  He  has  laid  up  treasure  in  heaven,  which 
is  of  infinitely  more  worth  than  that  sixpence.  Now, 
that  boy  does  not  find  a  shilling  on  his  way  home.  I 
have  known  that  happen,  but  that  is  not  what  is  meant 
by  '  adding.'  It  does  not  mean  that  God  is  going  to 
pay  him  in  his  own  coin,  for  He  pays  in  better  coin. 

"  Yet  I  remember  once  hearing  of  a  boy  who  was 
paid  in  both  ways.  He  was  very,  very  poor.  He  lived 
in  a  foreign  country,  and  his  mother  said  to  him  one 
day  that  he  must  go  into  the  great  city  and  start  in 
business,  and  she  took  his  coat  and  cut  it  open  and 
sewed  between  the  lining  and  the  coat  forty  golden 
dinars,  which  she  had  saved  up  for  many  years  to  start 
him  in  life.  She  told  him  to  take  care  of  robbers  as 
he  went  across  the  desert ;  and  as  he  was  going  out  of 
the  door  she  said,  '  My  boy,  I  have  only  two  words 
for  you — "  Fear  God,  and  never  tell  a  lie." '  The  boy 
started  off,  and  towards  evening  he  saw  glittering  in 
the  distance  the  minarets  of  the  great  city,  but  between 
the  city  and  himself  he  saw  a  cloud  of  dust ;  it  came 
nearer ;  presently  he  saw  that  it  was  a  band  of  robbers. 
One  of  the  robbers  left  the  rest  and  rode  towards  him, 
and  said,  '  Boy,  what  have  you  got  ? '  And  the  boy 
looked  him  in  the  face  and  said,  '  I  have  got  forty 
golden  dinars  sewed  up  in  my  coat.'  And  the  robber 
laughed  and  wheeled  round  his  horse  and  went  away 
back.  He  would  not  believe  the  boy.  Presently 
another  robber  came,  and  he  said, '  Boy,  what  have  you 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  199 

got?'  'Forty  golden  dinars  sewed  up  in  my  coat.' 
The  robber  said,  'The  boy  is  a  fool/  and  wheeled  his 
horse  and  rode  away  back. 

"  By  and  by  the  robber  captain  came,  and  he  said, 
'  Boy,  what  have  you  got  ? '  'I  have  forty  golden  dinars 
sewed  up  in  my  coat.'  And  the  robber  dismounted  and 
put  his  hand  over  the  boy's  breast,  felt  something  round, 
counted  one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  till  he  counted  out 
the  forty  golden  coins.  He  looked  the  boy  in  the  face, 
and  said, '  Why  did  you  tell  me  that  ? '  The  boy  said, 
'Because  of  God  and  my  mother.'  And  the  robber 
leant  upon  his  spear  and  thought,  and  said,  '  Wait  a 
moment.'  He  mounted  his  horse,  rode  back  to  the  rest 
of  the  robbers,  and  came  back  in  about  five  minutes 
with  his  dress  changed.  This  time  he  looked  not  like 
a  robber,  but  like  a  merchant.  He  took  the  boy  up  on 
his  horse,  and  said,  '  My  boy,  I  have  long  wanted  to  do 
something  for  my  God  and  for  my  mother,  and  I  have 
this  moment  renounced  my  robber's  life.  I  am  also  a 
merchant.  I  have  a  large  business  house  in  the  city. 
I  want  you  to  come  and  live  with  me,  to  teach  me 
about  your  God ;  and  you  will  be  rich,  and  your  mother 
some  day  will  come  and  live  with  us.'  And  it  all 
happened.  By  seeking  first  the  Kingdom  of  God,  all 
these  things  were  added  unto  him. 

"  Boys,  banish  for  ever  from  your  minds  the  idea  that 
religion  is  suUraction.  It  does  not  tell  us  to  give  things 
up,  but  rather  gives  us  something  so  much  better  that 
they  give  themselves  up.  When  you  see  a  boy  on  the 
street  whipping  a  top,  you  know,  perhaps,  that  you 
could  not  make  that  boy  happier  than  by  giving  him  a 
top,  a  whip,  and  half  an  hour  to  whip  it.  But  next 
birthday,  when  he  looks  back,  he  says,  '  What  a  goose 
I  was  last  year  to  be  delighted  with  a  top !  What  I 
want  now  is  a  cricket-bat.'     Then  when  he  becomes  an 


200  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

old  man,  he  does  not  care  in  the  least  for  a  cricket-bat ; 
he  wants  rest,  and  a  snug  fireside  and  a  newspaper 
every  day.  He  wonders  how  he  could  ever  have  taken 
up  his  thoughts  with  cricket-bats  and  whipping-tops. 
Now,  when  a  boy  becomes  a  Christian,  he  grows  out  of 
the  evil  things  one  by  one — that  is  to  say,  if  they  are 
really  evil — which  he  used  to  set  his  heart  upon  (of 
course  I  do  not  mean  cricket-bats,  for  they  are  not 
evils) ;  and  so,  instead  of  telling  people  to  give  up 
things,  we  are  safer  to  tell  them  to  '  Seek  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God,'  and  then  they  will  get  new  things 
and  better  things,  and  the  old  things  will  drop  off  of 
themselves.  This  is  what  is  meant  by  the  '  new  heart.' 
It  means  that  God  puts  into  us  new  thoughts  and  new 
wishes,  and  we  become  quite  different  boys. 

Grammar. 

"  Lastly,  and  very  shortly.  What  was  the  third  head  ? 
'  Grammar.'  Eight, '  Grammar.'  Now,  I  require  a  clever 
boy  to  answer  the  next  question.  What  is  the  verb  ? 
'  Seek.'  Very  good :  '  seek.'  What  mood  is  it  in  ? 
*  Imperative  mood.'  What  does  that  mean  ?  '  Com- 
mand.' You  boys  of  the  Boys'  Brigade  know  what 
commands  are.  What  is  the  soldier's  first  lesson  ? 
'  Obedience.'  Have  you  obeyed  this  command  ?  Ee- 
member  the  imperative  mood  of  these  words,  '  Seek  first 
the  Kingdom  of  God.'  This  is  the  command  of  your 
King.  It  must  be  done.  I  have  been  trying  to  show 
you  what  a  splendid  thing  it  is ;  what  a  reasonable  thing 
it  is ;  what  a  happy  thing  it  is ;  but  beyond  all  these 
reasons,  it  is  a  thing  that  vmist  be  done,  because  we  are 
commanded  to  do  it  by  our  Captain.  It  is  one  of  the 
finest  things  about  the  Boys'  Brigade  that  it  always 
appeals  to  Christ  as  its   highest   Officer  and  takes  its 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  201 

commands  from  Him.  Now,  there  is  His  command  to 
seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Have  you  done  it  ? 
*  Well/  I  know  some  boys  will  say, — '  Well,  we  are  going 
to  have  a  good  time,  enjoy  life,  and.  then  we  are  going  to 
seek — last  the  Kingdom  of  God.'  Now,  that  is  mean ; 
it  is  nothing  else  than  mean  for  a  boy  to  take  all  the 
good  gifts  that  God  has  given  him,  and  then  give  Him 
nothing  back  in  return  but  his  wasted  life. 

"  God  wants  boys'  lives,  not  only  their  souls.  It  is  for 
active  service  soldiers  are  drilled,  and  trained,  and  fed, 
and  armed.  That  is  why  you  and  I  are  in  the  world  at 
all — not  to  prepare  to  go  out  of  it  some  day ;  but  to 
serve  God  actively  in  it  now.  It  is  monstrous,  and 
shameful,  and  cowardly  to  talk  of  seeking  the  Kingdom 
last.  It  is  shirking  duty,  abandoning  one's  rightful  post, 
playing  into  the  enemy's  hand  by  doing  nothing  to  turn 
his  flank.  Every  hour  a  Kingdom  is  coming  in  your 
heart,  in  your  home,  in  the  world  near  you,  be  it  a 
Kingdom  of  Darkness  or  a  Kingdom  of  Light.  You 
are  placed  where  you  are,  in  a  particular  business,  in  a 
particular  street,  to  help  on  there  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
You  cannot  do  that  when  you  are  old  and  ready  to  die. 
By  that  time  your  companions  will  have  fought  their 
fight,  and  lost  or  won.  If  they  lose,  will  you  not  be 
sorry  that  you  did  not  help  them  ?  Will  you  not  regret 
that  only  at  the  last  you  helped  the  Kingdom  of  God  ? 
Perhaps  you  will  not  be  able  to  do  it  then.  And  then 
your  life  has  been  lost  indeed. 

"  Very  few  people  have  the  opportunity  to  seek  the 
Kingdom  of  God  at  the  end.  Christ,  knowing  all  that, 
knowing  that  religion  was  a  thing  for  our  life,  not  merely 
for  our  deathbed,  has  laid  this  command  upon  us  now : 
'  Seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God.'  I  am  going  to  leave 
you  with  this  text  itself.  Every  Brigade  boy  in  the 
world  should  obey  it. 


202  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

"  Boys,  before  you  go  to  work  to-morrow,  before  you 
go  to  sleep  to-night,  before  you  go  to  the  Sunday  school 
this  afternoon,  before  you  go  out  of  the  doors  of  the 
City  Hall,  resolve  that,  God  helping  you,  you  are  going 
to  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Perhaps  some  boys 
here  are  deserters;  they  began  once  before  to  serve 
Christ,  and  they  deserted.  Come  back  again,  come  back 
again  to-day.  Others  have  never  enlisted  at  all.  Will 
you  not  do  it  now  ?  You  are  old  enough  to  decide. 
And  the  grandest  moment  of  a  boy's  life  is  that  moment 
when  he  decides  to 

Seeft  $ixs>i  tbe  IkingDoin  of  (SoW* 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

For  the  Boys'  Brigade — {continued). 

HAVING-  given  some  idea  of  Druinmond's  work 
among  the  boys  themselves,  we  may  briefly  sketch 
his  labours  for  the  Boys'  Brigade  in  explaining  and 
commending  the  movement  to  the  Christian  public, 
before  we  go  on  to  quote  from  his  writings  and  speeches 
on  the  subject.  On  21st  January  1889,  at  the  first 
public  meeting  of  the  Brigade,  held  in  Glasgow,  he  gave 
an  address  on  the  topic — "  The  Brigade  as  a  New  Field 
for  Young  Men."  In  December  1891  he  was  one  of  the 
principal  speakers  at  a  large  public  meeting  in  Dundee, 
held  in  the  interests  of  the  movement;  and  on  20th 
May  1892,  at  the  first  public  meeting  held  in  London 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Brigade,  he  repeated  the 
address  which  he  had  delivered  at  the  first  meeting  in 
Glasgow.  When  he  went  to  Australia  in  1890  he 
spent  a  good  deal  of  time  in  introducing  the  movement 
to  the  Christian  public  in  the  colonies  there,  and  had 
the  gratification  of  seeing  Boys'  Brigade  work  set  on 
foot  in  several  places  before  his  departure  for  home. 
On  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  America  in  1893  he  was 
able  to  speak  frequently  in  promotion  of  the  movement, 
which  already  had  found  a  footing  for  itself  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada. 

In  Boston  he  addressed  two  large  public  meetings  on 
behalf  of  the  movement,  as  well  as  a  gathering  of  the 

ao3 


204  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

boys  of  the  New  England  Companies  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  that  town.  He  also  devoted  his  speech  at  a 
conversazione  of  the  students  of  Harvard  University  to 
an  exposition  of  this  scheme  "  for  turning  out  boys " ; 
addressed  meetings  at  Minneapolis  and  at  Dulluth  on 
the  same  topic ;  and  wound  up  by  reading  a  paper  on 
the  subject  at  the  International  Christian  Conference  at 
Chicago. 

To  the  students  at  Harvard  University  Drummond 
explained  the  object  and  method  of  the  Boys'  Brigade 
in  an  address  from  which  we  quote  as  follows : — 

"  The  idea  of  the  Brigade  is  this.  It  is  a  new  move- 
ment for  turning  out  boys,  instead  of  savages.  The 
average  boy,  as  you  know,  is  a  pure  animal.  He  is  not 
evolved ;  and,  unless  he  is  taken  in  hand  by  somebody 
who  cares  for  him  and  who  understands  him,  he  will  be 
very  apt  to  make  a  mess  of  his  life — not  to  speak  of  the 
lives  of  other  people.  We  endeavour  to  get  hold  of  this 
animal.  You  do  not  have  the  article  here,  and  do  not 
quite  understand  the  boy  I  mean.  The  large  cities  of 
the  Old  World  are  infested  by  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
these  ragamuffins,  as  we  call  them — young  roughs  who 
have  nobody  to  look  after  them.  The  Sunday  school 
cannot  handle  these  boys.  The  old  method  was  for 
somebody  to  form  them  into  a  class  and  try  to  get  even 
attention  from  them.  Half  the  time  was  spent  in 
securing  order. 

"  The  new  method  is  simply  this :  You  get  a  dozen 
boys  together,  and,  instead  of  forming  them  into  a  class, 
you  get  them  into  some  little  hall  and  put  upon  every 
boy's  head  a  little  mihtary  cap  that  costs  in  our  country 
something  like  twenty  cents,  and  you  put  around  his 
waist  a  belt  that  costs  about  the  same  sum,  and  you  call 
him  a  soldier.     You  tell  him,  '  Now,  Private  Hopkins, 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  205 

stand  up.  Hold  up  your  head.  Put  your  feet  together.' 
And  you  can  order  that  boy  about  till  he  is  black  in  the 
face,  just  because  he  has  a  cap  on  his  head  and  a  belt 
around  his  waist.  The  week  before  you  could  do  nothing 
with  him.  If  he  likes  it,  you  are  coming  next  Thursday 
night.  He  is  not  doing  any  favour  by  coming.  You 
are  doing  him  a  favour  by  coming ;  and  if  he  does  not 
turn  up  at  eight  o'clock,  to  the  second,  the  door  will  be 
locked.  If  his  hair  is  not  brushed  and  his  face  washed, 
he  cannot  enter.  Military  discipline  is  established  from 
the  first  moment.  You  give  the  boys  three-fourths  of 
an  hour's  drill  again,  and  in  a  short  time  you  have 
introduced  quite  a  number  of  virtues  into  that  boy's 
character.  You  have  taught  him  instant  obedience.  If 
he  is  not  obedient,  you  put  him  into  the  guard-house,  or 
tell  him  he  will  be  drummed  out  of  the  regiment ;  and  he 
will  never  again  disobey.  If  he  is  punctual  and  does 
his  drill  thoroughly,  tell  him  that  at  the  end  of  the  year 
he  will  get  a  stripe.  He  will  get  a  cent's  worth  of 
braid.  You  have  his  obedience,  punctuality,  intelli- 
gence, and  attention  for  a  year  for  one  cent.  Then  you 
have  taught  him  courtesy.  He  salutes  you,  and  feels  a 
head  taller.  Everything  is  done  as  if  you  were  a  real 
captain  and  he  a  real  private.  He  calls  you  '  Captain.' 
Each  boy  has  a  rifle  that  costs  a  dollar;  but  there  is 
no  firing.  There  is  a  bayonet  drill  without  a  bayonet. 
The  first  year  they  have  military  drill,  and  the  second 
year  bayonet  exercises — an  absolute  copy  of  the  Army 
driU.  The  Brigade  inculcates  a  martial,  but  not  a 
warlike,  spirit.  The  only  inducement  to  bring  the  boys 
together  at  first  is  the  drill.  You  might  think  it  is  a 
very  poor  one,  but  it  is  about  the  strongest  inducement 
you  could  offer. 

"  That  is  the  outward  machinery ;   but  it  is  a  mere 
take-in.     The  boy  doesn't  know  it.     The  real  object  of 


2o6  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

the  Brigade  is  to  win  that  boy  for  Christianity — to  put 
it  quite  plainly.  It  does  not  make  the  slightest  secret 
of  its  aim." 

At  the  International  Christian  Conference  at  Chicago 
Drummond  said : — 

"  The  Boys'  Brigade  requires  at  this  time  of  day  no 
word  from  anyone  to  recommend  it,  because  for  ten 
years  it  has  been  experimentally  at  work,  and  has  been 
a  tremendous  success.  It  was  started  by  a  young 
Volunteer  officer,  Mr.  W.  A.  Smith,  about  ten  years  ago. 
.  .  .  The  officers  are  very  many  of  them  Volunteers  or 
Volunteer  officers,  but  many  are  private  citizens.  The 
boys  belong  mostly  to  the  working  classes — as  a  rule  to 
the  messenger  boy  or  apprentice  class — and  the  ages 
are  strictly  limited  to  from  twelve  to  seventeen  years. 
When  a  boy  is  seventeen  he  must  leave  the  organisation. 
Of  course  something  else  is  usually  provided  for  him ; 
but  he  must  leave  it. 

"  Let  me  explain  in  a  sentence  what  the  genius  of  the 
Boys'  Brigade  is.  Those  of  you  who  have  tried  to  work 
among  boys  have  already  discovered  what  kind  of  an 
animal  a  boy  is.  He  is  not  a  solid ;  he  is  a  gas.  He  is 
not  a  human  being ;  he  is  part  savage  and  part  animal. 
You  soon  find  out  that  to  deal  with  boys  as  you  would 
deal  with  grown-up  persons  is  impossible ;  you  have  to 
adopt  special  methods.  As  a  rule  the  methods  that  are 
adopted  to  win  boys  fail  from  mere  lack  of  knowledge 
of  what  kind  of  a  being  a  Boy  is.  Even  in  Sunday 
schools  much  of  the  time  is  spent  in  the  vain  effort  to 
keep  order,  and  very  little  time  is  left  for  moral  instruc- 
tion or  moral  influence. 

"  Now  Mr.  Smith,  of  the  Boys'  Brigade,  recognised 
that,  and  hit  upon  a  very  brilliant  idea  for  getting  at 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  207 

boys.  He  asked  a  small  band  of  fairly  average  working- 
men's  boys  to  meet  him  on  a  week-night — not  on  a 
Sunday.  Instead  of  calling  these  boys  'boys/  and 
setting  them  down  in  a  row  before  him  to  hear  him 
prose,  instead  of  spending  all  the  time  telling  them  to 
'  stop,'  *  keep  quiet,'  '  hold  your  books  up,'  and  so  forth, 
he  stood  them  up  in  the  middle  of  the  room  and  called 
them  '  soldiers.'  Then  when  he  issued  an  order,  every 
boy  in  the  room  instantly  obeyed  it.  He  felt  that,  as 
a  soldier,  he  must  do  so,  and  was  delighted  to  do  so. 
After  they  met  a  few  nights,  to  keep  up  the  delusion  a 
twenty-five-cent  cap  was  furnished  them — at  their  own 
expense — and  a  fifty-cent  belt :  that  is  all  the  equipment 
necessary  to  form  a  company  of  the  Boys'  Brigade.  In 
your  country  I  have  seen  several  companies,  and  was 
very  much  astonished  at  the  gorgeous  liveries  you  use 
— especially  to  observe  that  the  equipment  of  the 
officers  included  uniform,  epaulets,  and  swords.  We  do 
not  allow  that.  Neither  officers  nor  boys  wear  any 
more  '  uniform '  than  I  have  named.  We  want  to  make 
the  Brigade  accessible  to  the  poorest  boy  and  to  the 
poorest  officer.  We  want  also  to  keep  down  militarism. 
We  do  not  want  to  allow  the  boys  to  think  they  are 
soldiers  beyond  the  one  point.  The  cap  and  belt  is  all 
we  find  necessary.  We  can  rtiaJce  a  hoy  for  seventy-five 
cents.  That  is  all  the  cost  to  us,  except,  as  time  goes 
on,  a  dollar  for  a  rifle  (warranted  not  to  go  off),  which  is 
generally  provided  by  the  officers  and  their  friends.  The 
reason  we  have  the  rifle  is  because  a  boy  is  a  volatile 
creature  who  needs  constant  change.  After  he  has  been 
drilling  some  time,  unless  you  get  something  new,  he 
will  become  weary,  and  possibly  leave  ;  but  by  introducing 
changes  you  can  keep  him  interested  from  his  twelfth  to 
his  seventeenth  year. 

"  You  will  ask  me,  perhaps, '  What  object  is  that  to 


2o8  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

the  boy  ? '  Well,  in  the  first  place,  it  teaches  the  boy 
a  number  of  ordinary  virtues.  When  the  boy  conies 
upon  the  appointed  night,  if  he  is  not  there  to  the 
second  he  is  locked  out.  Military  discipline  is  kept  up 
in  the  strictest  form.  We  have  found  that  strictness 
almost  to  the  point  of  hardness  is  a  necessity,  and, 
although  it  may  seem  hard  to  the  boys,  it  is  by  far 
the  best  way  in  the  end.  Every  boy  who  is  a  second 
late  is  thrown  out  of  a  chance  for  the  good-conduct 
badge.  If  he  comes  with  a  dirty  face,  he  is  turned  out 
to  get  washed.  If  he  misbehaves,  he  is  told  he  must  be 
court-martialed  or  put  into  the  dungeon,  or  something 
else  equally  terrible  to  the  military  mind ;  and  the 
mere  threat  is  quite  sufficient  to  ensure  good  discipline. 
The  old  way  was  to  bribe  a  boy  and  coax  him,  to  tell 
him  how  much  you  wanted  him;  but  these  Brigade 
captains  tell  him  they  do  not  care,  and  do  not  want 
him,  and  pretend  that  they  are  doing  the  boys  an 
enormous  favour  coming  there.  That  reverses  the 
situation,  and  the  result  is  the  boys  come  with  far 
greater  avidity.  Then,  when  the  boys'  drill  is  over,  as 
a  rule  there  is  a  short  prayer,  it  may  be  the  Lord's 
Prayer.  Every  boy  takes  off  his  cap  at  the  prayer — 
perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  his  life — and  so  he  learns 
reverence.  If  on  the  street,  he  has  been  taught  to  salute 
when  he  meets  an  officer.  Thus  he  is  taught  courtesy. 
In  this  way  the  boy  learns  respect,  punctuality, 
obedience,  and  a  large  number  of  other  virtues;  and 
you  can  understand  how  after  five  years,  with  that  kind 
of  discipline  bearing  down  on  him,  these  things  will  be 
gradually  engraved  on  his  character. 

"  At  the  end  of  each  drill,  as  I  have  said,  there  is 
generally  a  short  prayer,  but  in  addition  to  this,  in 
most  cases,  there  is  a  short  address.  The  captain 
stands  before  his  boys  and  gives  them  a  straight  talk 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  209 

of  five  or  ten  minutes  upon  any  subject,  it  may  be  in 
connection  with  their  Bible  lesson.  They  have  a  Bible- 
class  in  connection  with  each  company.  Every  company 
must  be  in  connection  with  a  Christian  church,  the 
Y.M.C.A.,  or  some  other  suitable  organisation.  It  is  not 
allowed  for  any  man  who  has  no  such  connection  to 
Btart  a  company  of  the  Boys'  Brigade.  He  must  do  it 
in  co-operation  with  some  suitable  association,  and  this 
gives  the  organisation  stability  and  standing. 

"  The  Boys'  Brigade  is  a  religious  movement.  Every- 
thing is  subsidiary  to  this  idea.  It  may  not  always  be 
brandished  before  the  eyes  of  the  boys  themselves  in  so 
many  words,  and  it  would  not  be  wholly  true  to  the 
type  of  boy-religion  to  over-advertise  it ;  but  at  bottom 
the  Boys'  Brigade  exists  for  this,  and  it  is  never  afraid 
to  confess  it.  On  the  forefront  of  its  earliest  documents 
stand  these  words :  '  The  object  of  the  Boys'  Brigade 
is  the  advancement  of  Christ's  kingdom  among  boys, 
and  the  promotion  of  habits  of  reverence,  discipline, 
self-respect,  and  all  that  tends  towards  a  true  Christian 
manliness.'  That  flag  has  never  been  taken  down.  '  A 
true  Christian  manliness ' — that  is  its  motto ;  and  the 
emphasis  upon  the  manly  rather  than  upon  the  mawkish 
presentation  of  Christianity  has  been  its  stronghold  from 
the  first. 

"  Contrary  to  a  somewhat  natural  impression,  the 
Boys'  Brigade  does  not  teach  the  '  art  of  war,'  nor  does 
it  foster  or  encourage  the  war  spirit.  It  simply  employs 
military  organisation,  drill,  and  discipline,  as  the  most 
stimulating  and  interesting  means  of  securing  the 
attention  of  a  volatile  class,  and  of  promoting  self- 
respect,  chivalry,  courtesy,  esiirit  de  coiys,  and  a  host  of 
kindred  virtues.  To  these  more  personal  results  the 
military  organisation  is  but  an  aid,  and  this  fact  is 
continually  kept  before  the  officers  by  means  of  the 
14 


2IO  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

magazine  which  is  issued  periodically  from  headquarters, 
as  well  as  by  the  official  constitution  of  the  organisation. 
With  the  officers,  saturated  as  they  are  with  the  deeper 
meaning  of  their  work,  feeling  as  they  do  the  greatness 
and  responsibility  of  their  commission,  it  is  an  idle  fear 
that  any  should  so  far  betray  his  trust  as  to  conceal 
the  end  in  the  means.  As  to  the  retort  that  the  end 
can  never  justify  such  means,  it  is  simply  to  be  said  that 
the  '  means '  are  not  what  they  are  supposed.  To  teach 
drill  is  not  to  teach  the  '  art  of  war,'  nor  is  the  drill 
spirit  a  war  spirit.  Firemen  are  drilled,  policemen  are 
drilled,  and  though  it  is  true  the  cap  and  belt  of  the 
boys  are  the  regalia  of  another  order,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  drill  is  any  more  to  them  than  to  these  other 
sons  of  peace.  That  the  war  spirit  exists  at  all  among 
the  boys  of  any  single  company  of  the  Brigade  would 
certainly  be  news  to  the  officers,  and  if  it  did  arise  it 
would  as  certainly  be  checked.  One  has  even  known 
Volunteers  whose  souls  were  not  consumed  by  enmity, 
hatred,  and  revenge ;  and  it  is  whispered  that  there  are 
actually  privates  in  Her  Majesty's  service  who  do  not 
breathe  out  blood  and  fire.  Besides  this,  what  is  known 
in  the  'Army  Eed  Book'  as  physical  drill  is  more  and 
more  coming  to  play  a  leading  part  in  Brigade  work, 
and  the  governing  body  may  be  trusted  to  reduce  the 
merely  military  machinery  to  the  lowest  possible 
minimum. 

"  The  true  aspiration  and  teaching  of  the  Brigade 
could  not  be  better  summarised  than  in  this  further 
quotation  from  its  official  literature : — 

" '  Our  boys  are  full  of  earnest  desire  to  be  brave, 
true  men ;  and  if  we  want  to  make  them  brave,  true. 
Christian  m.en,  we  must  direct  this  desire  into  the  right 
channel,  and  show  them  that  in  the  service  of  Christ 
they  will  find  the  bravest,  truest  life  that  is  possible 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  211 

for  a  man  to  live.  We  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Boys' 
Brigade  on  this  idea,  and  determined  to  try  to  win  the 
boys  for  Christ,  by  presenting  to  them  that  view  of 
Christianity  to  which  we  knew  their  natures  would  most 
readily  respond,  being  fully  conscious  how  much  more 
there  was  to  show  them  after  they  had  been  won.' 

"  There  are  at  least  two  points  where  religious  teach- 
ing directly  comes  in.  The  first  is  the  company  Bible- 
class.  Every  company  being  connected  with  some 
existing  Christian  organisation,  the  boys  are  urged  to 
attend  whatever  Bible-class  exists,  and  in  most  cases 
they  do  so.  But  wherever  no  existing  interest  is  in- 
terfered with,  the  captains  usually  provide  a  class  of 
their  own.  These  special  company  classes  now  number 
about  two  hundred,  with  an  average  attendance  of  over 
four  thousand  boys ;  and  that  this  side  of  the  work  is 
receiving  special  impulse  is  plain  from  the  fact  that 
last  year  saw  the  birth  of  over  fifty  new  classes. 

"  In  addition  to  these  Sunday  classes,  nearly  every 
company  reports  an  address  given  at  drill  on  the  week- 
night,  with  more  or  less  regularity  ;  and  each  parade 
is  opened  and  closed  with  prayer  or  with  a  short  re- 
ligious service.  Once  a  year  also  it  is  becoming  an 
increasing  custom  for  the  companies  in  populous  centres 
to  have  a  united  church  parade,  where  they  attend 
divine  service  in  '  uniform,'  and  hear  a  special  sermon 
from  some  distinguished  preacher. 

"  But  though  this  is  the  foundation  of  the  Brigade,  it 
is  by  no  means  the  whole  superstructure.  The  Brigade 
has  almost  as  many  departments  of  activity  as  a  boy  has 
needs.  It  is  clear,  for  instance,  that,  in  dealing  with 
boys,  supreme  importance  must  be  attached  to  main- 
taining a  right  attitude  towards  athletics.  And  here 
the  Brigade  has  taken  the  bull  by  the  horns,  and 
formed  a  special  department  to  deal  with  amusements 


212  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

— a  department  whose  express  object  is  to  guide  and 
elevate  sport,  and  by  unobtrusive  methods  to  get  even 
recreation  to  pay  its  toll  to  the  disciplining  of  character. 

"  One  or  more  clubs  for  football,  cricket,  gymnastics, 
or  swimming  have  been  formed  in  connection  with 
almost  every  company,  and  the  honour  of  the  Brigade, 
both  physical  and  moral,  is  held  up  as  an  inspiration 
to  the  boys  in  all  they  do.  The  captains  are  not  so 
much  above  the  boys  in  years  as  to  have  lost  either 
their  love  or  knowledge  of  sports,  and  a  frequent  sight 
now  on  a  Saturday  afternoon  is  to  witness  a  football 
match  between  rival  companies,  with  the  lieutenant 
or  captain  officiating  as  umpire.  At  practice  during 
the  week  also  he  will  act  as  coach,  and  the  effect  of 
this  both  upon  the  sports  themselves  and  on  his  personal 
influence  with  the  boys  is  obvious.  The  wise  officer, 
the  humane  and  sensible  officer,  in  short,  makes  as  much 
use  of  play  for  higher  purposes  as  of  the  parades,  and 
possibly  more.  The  key  to  a  boy's  life  in  the  present 
generation  lies  in  athletics.  Sport  commands  his  whole 
leisure,  and  governs  his  thoughts  and  ambitions  even 
in  working  hours.  And  so  striking  has  been  this 
development  in  recent  years,  and  especially  among  the 
young  men  of  the  larger  towns,  that  the  time  has  come 
to  decide  whether  athletics  are  to  become  a  curse  to 
the  country  or  a  blessing.  That  issue  is  now,  and  in 
an  almost  acute  form,  directly  before  society.  And  the 
decision,  so  far  as  some  of  us  can  see,  depends  mainly 
upon  such  work  as  the  Boys'  Brigade  is  doing  through 
its  athletic  department.  Were  it  for  this  alone — the 
elevation  of  athletics,  the  making  moral  of  what,  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who  really  know,  is  fast  becoming  a  most 
immoral  and  degrading  institution — the  existence  of  the 
Boys'  Brigade  is  justified  a  hundred  times. 

"  Not  content  with  keeping  its  eye  upon  its  member- 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  213 

ship  on  the  athletic  field  on  Saturday,  the  Brigade  in 
many  cases  completes  its  work  by  superintending  the 
longer  trades  holiday  in  midsummer.  Summer  camps, 
lasting  for  a  week  at  a  time,  are  becoming  widely 
popular.  .  .  .  Anyone  who  knows  how  difficult  it  is 
for  a  working  lad  to  carry  out  a  really  satisfactory 
holiday  on  his  own  account  will  appreciate  the  value  of 
this  idea. 

"  Another  very  interesting  department  is  ambulance 
work.  Courses  of  lectures  by  competent  medical  men 
are  given  to  the  boys,  through  which  they  receive  plain 
instruction  in  the  '  Laws  of  Health,'  '  First  Aid  to  the 
Injured,'  and  *  Stretcher  Drill.'  These  courses  have 
been  eagerly  taken  advantage  of  wherever  they  have 
been  tried,  and  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  pupils 
have  satisfactorily  passed  an  examination  at  the  close. 
Last  year  in  the  Glasgow  Battalion  alone  over  two 
hundred  boys  passed  the  St.  Andrew's  ambulance  ex- 
amination. It  has  happened  on  more  than  one  occa- 
sion, on  the  football  field,  that  the  ambulance  boys 
were  able  to  be  of  immediate  and  valuable  assistance. 
In  one  case  they  set  a  broken  leg  with  such  skill  as 
not  only  to  earn  the  compliments  of  the  medical  staff 
of  the  hospital,  but  to  ensure  a  very  rapid  recovery  on 
the  part  of  the  patient.  In  a  street  accident,  where  a 
workman  was  very  seriously  cut  by  the  falling  upon 
him  of  a  plate-glass  window,  a  Brigade  Boy  stepped  out 
of  the  crowd,  and  with  a  stone  and  his  pocket-handker- 
chief stopped  the  bleeding  just  in  time  to  save  the 
sufferer's  life.  Three  cases  are  now  authenticated  of 
Brigade  Boys  having  been  the  direct  means  of  saving 
life  by  knowing  how  to  stop  the  bleeding  of  an  artery. 

"  Eeading  and  club  rooms  have  also  been  formed  by 
some  companies,  and  are  proving  a  valuable  social  and 
educational  influence.     No  doubt  these  will   spread  as 


214  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

the  Brigade  gets  older,  for  it  is  the  policy  of  the 
executive  to  leave  no  region  of  a  boy's  life  unpro- 
vided for,  and  in  many  city  districts  some  such  refuge 
from  the  streets,  or  even  from  unhappy  homes,  is  a 
necessity. 

"  One  of  the  best  devices  to  preoccupy  leisure  hours 
is  the  formation  of  instrumental  bands.  Few  of  the 
recent  developments  of  the  Brigade  have  met  with  more 
success  than  this,  and  a  taste  for  music  has  been  widely 
spread  among  the  boys.  .  .  .  That  the  music  furnished 
by  these  bands  is  not  mere  noise  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  the  civic  authorities  in  at  least  one  great  centre 
have  given  the  Boys'  Brigade  bands  a  place  in  their 
summer  programme  for  music  in  the  public  parks. 

"  These,  however,  are  only  a  few  of  the  more  formal 
and  public  developments  of  the  Boys'  Brigade  work. 
Behind  all  lies  the  supreme  moulding  force  —  the 
personal  influence,  example,  and  instruction  of  the 
officers — manifesting  itself  in  directions  and  in  ways 
innumerable  and  varied,  and  in  results  which  can 
never  be  tabulated.  There  is  no  limit  to  what  a  good 
officer  can  do  for  his  boys.  He  is  not  only  their  guide, 
philosopher,  and  friend,  but  their  brother.  In  distress, 
in  sickness,  they  can  count  upon  him.  If  they  are  out 
of  work,  or  wish  to  better  themselves  in  life,  they  know 
at  least  one  man  in  the  world  to  whom  their  future 
career  is  a  living  interest.  In  short,  throughout  life 
they  have  someone  to  lean  upon,  to  be  accountable  to, 
to  live  up  to.  He,  on  his  part,  has  something  to  live 
for.  He  is  the  pastor  of  boys,  and,  if  he  is  the  right 
man,  of  their  homes.  Great  and  splendid  is  this  con- 
ception— that  every  boy  should  have  a  brother,  every 
home  a  friend ;  not  missionary,  nor  ministering  spirit, 
not  even  woman,  but  man,  a  young  man,  himself  in  the 
thick  of  the  fight  and  helping  others,  not  because  he  ia 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  215 

above    them,    but   because    the   same    powder    smoke 
envelops  both." 

Drummond's  views  of  the  Brigade  as  a  field  for  the 
efforts  of  young  men  may  best  be  obtained  from  the 
following  paragraphs  in  his  speech  on  that  subject  at 
the  first  public  meeting  of  the  Brigade.  We  quote 
from  the  report  in  the  first  number  of  the  Boys'  Brigade 
Gazette  : — 

"  I  should  like  simply  to  say  that  I  honestly  believe 
it  would  have  been  worth  while  founding  the  Boys' 
Brigade  if  it  had  only  been  for  the  sake  of  the 
officers.  ...  I  would  defend  the  Boys'  Brigade 
because  it  opens  a  new  and  altogether  unique  door 
for  that  vaster  aristocracy  of  young  men  of  the  more 
educated  classes,  who  have  hitherto  swelled  the  ranks 
of  the  unemployed.  The  unemployed,  as  a  rule,  belong 
to  the  dregs  of  society,  but  those  of  whom  I  speak  are 
the  flower  of  our  country.  Whatever  be  the  cause, 
many  of  these  men  are  in  revolt  against  the  ordinary 
forms  of  Christian  work.  Some  of  these  forms  are  too 
narrow  for  them,  others  too  artificial;  others  are  un- 
Buited  to  their  qualifications  or  uncongenial  to  their 
tastes.  The  young  man  is  almost  as  new  a  discovery 
as  the  boy  in  religious  work,  and  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  if  he  is  a  little  particular  in  choosing  a 
suitable  sphere.  Young  men  are  as  coy  as  girls  about 
Christian  work;  the  least  suspicion  of  unreality  or 
sanctimoniousness  frightens  them  off,  and  they  feel  a 
certain  sense  of  inability — a  sense  of  the  greatness  and 
sacredness  of  the  work — which  makes  them  shrink  from 
touching  it.  But  be  it  right  or  wrong,  be  it  modesty  or 
mere  fastidiousness,  the  fact  remains  that  hitherto  many 
men  who  cherished  a  real  desire  to  help  on  the  lives  of 


2i6  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

others  could  find  no  congenial  place  in  the  current 
evangelism.  No  man  had  devised  a  practical  scheme 
for  linking  those  men  heartily  and  sympathetically  either 
with  the  Church's  activity  or  with  other  forms  of 
Christian  work ;  and  this  spendid  enterprise  has  been 
initiated  just  in  time  to  save  hundreds  of  the  best  of 
them  to  their  Church  and  country.  .  .  . 

"  Probably  what  interests  young  men  in  this  Boys' 
Brigade  is  the  naturalness  of  the  work.  It  is  absolutely 
natural  for  a  young  man  to  be  mixed  up  with  boys.  It 
is  natural  for  him  to  take  up  their  cause,  to  lay  himself 
alongside  their  interests,  to  play  the  part  of  the  older 
brother  to  them.  He  altogether  understands  them;  he 
knows  all  their  ways  and  dodges,  and  has  been  in  all 
their  scrapes.  A  mother  does  not  really  know  a  boy 
in  the  least.  She  has  never  been  a  boy.  But  the 
young  man  knows  the  boy  through  and  through.  He 
is  the  one  man  in  the  world,  also,  whom  the  boy  in 
turn  worships.  So  the  young  man  is  in  his  place  when 
he  offers  a  kindly  hand  to  these  his  younger  brothers. 
Then  there  is  the  definiteness  of  the  work.  If  you  set 
a  man  down  among  the  770,000  people  in  Glasgow  and 
tell  him  to  try  and  do  them  good,  the  vagueness  and 
vastness  of  the  problem  will  paralyse  his  efforts.  He 
will  either  do  little,  or,  aiming  at  too  much,  accomplish 
nothing.  But  give  him  ten  boys  and  say,  '  There  is 
your  life-work — to  guard  and  lead  these  boys.'  That 
compact  piece  of  service  is  at  least  within  his  reach, 
and  he  will  brace  himself  to  attempt  it.  May  I  add 
that  not  less  inspiring  than  the  definiteness  of  the  work 
is,  perhaps,  the  charm  of  its  indefiniteness  ?  No  captain 
when  he  begins  this  work  knows  where  it  is  going  to 
lead  him.  If  he  is  a  true  man,  it  will  take  him  to  the 
boy's  home.  He  will  get  to  know  the  boy's  father,  and 
he  will  get  to  know  the  boy's  father's  views,  surround- 


FOR  THE  BOYS'  BRIGADE  217 

ings,  and  occupation.  Presently  he  will  become  in- 
terested through  this  in  social  questions ;  for  the  first 
time  he  will  touch  them  practically,  and  feel  their 
acuteness.  He  will  perceive  that  religion  must  become 
a  wider  word  than  ever  he  supposed,  and  that  the  most 
burning  problems  for  his  Christianity  are  these  very 
social  questions  which  his  boys  and  their  homes  have 
raised  for  him.  But  this  is  only  a  part  of  the  reflex 
action  of  the  Boys'  Brigade  work  upon  the  worker.  The 
rich  always  owe  more  to  the  poor  than  the  poor  owe  to 
the  rich,  and  the  officer  will  owe  to  his  boys  the  calling 
out  of  sympathies  which  he  scarcely  knew  existed,  the 
exercise  of  talents  which  were  slowly  wasting,  the 
development  of  his  whole  character  towards  a  nobler 
and  stronger  manhood.  The  Boys'  Brigade  will  keep 
him  young  to  the  end  of  his  life.  That  is  a  great  thing. 
But  greater  than  all  these,  work  of  this  practical  and 
personal  kind  will  transform  the  worker's  whole  life  into 
a  mission." 

It  is  surely  ample  justification  of  Drummond's  high 
opinion  of  the  movement  as  an  evangelical  agency  among 
boys  that  there  are  now  3319  officers  and  41,096  non- 
commissioned officers  and  boys  in  the  effective  strength 
of  the  Brigade  in  the  United  Kingdom,  while  throughout 
the  world — in  Britain,  the  United  States,  Canada,  South 
Africa,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  the  West  Indies,  India, 
Ceylon,  and  the  Eepublic  of  Columbia  —  it  has  an 
estimated  strength  of  1700  companies,  5800  officers, 
and  76,000  boys. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

His  Eecreations. 

WHILE  it  might  almost  be  said  that  evangelism  was 
Drummond's  principal  recreation,  seeing  that  it 
absorbed  a  large  part  of  the  leisure  time  which  the 
duties  of  his  chair  left  at  command,  we  have  not  got 
so  far  with  his  life-story  without  giving  various  hints 
of  his  indulgence  in  pastimes  which  had  little  more 
serious  object  than  the  refreshment  of  mind  and  body. 
A  man's  use  of  his  spare  time  is  often  an  index  to  his 
character,  and  we  think  it  right  to  devote  a  short 
chapter  to  Drummond's  recreations. 

Out  of  doors,  salmon-fishing,  deer-stalking,  and,  when 
he  got  the  chance,  the  pursuit  of  "  big  game,"  all  had 
considerable  fascination  for  him.  Salmon-fishing  was 
once  characterised  by  him  as  his  besetting  sin,  and  he 
missed  few  opportunities  of  indulging  in  it,  either  in  our 
Scottish  Highlands,  or  in  Canada  and  the  Wild  West. 
He  was  also  a  very  good  skater.  Eambling,  too,  as 
might  have  been  expected  in  one  of  his  scientific  turn  of 
mind,  had  great  attractions  for  him.  As  an  onlooker,  he 
retained  a  well-informed  interest  in  and  knowledge  of 
cricket  and  football,  and  was  frequently  to  be  seen  on 
the  grand  stand  at  International  matches. 

We  have  already  seen  how  he  disported  himself 
indoors  in  the  company  of  young  people.  Left  to  the 
companionship  of  those  of  maturer  years,  talk  and  "  the 

si8 


J'/toto,  La/aji'tU. 


HENRY    DRUMMOND. 


HIS  RECREATIONS  219 

consumption  of  infinite  smoke  "  had  probably  the  largest 
place.  Next  to  that  came  chess,  to  which  he  was 
keenly  attached  from  boyhood  onwards.  To  relieve  the 
tedium  of  his  Australian  voyage  in  1890,  he  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  diversion  afforded  by  the  study  of  some 
of  the  intricacies  of  the  game. 

Philately  at  various  times  reasserted  the  influence 
which  it  had  held  over  him  in  his  boyhood ;  and,  on  his 
own  confession,  other  hobbies  claimed  a  passing  interest. 
"  My  house  is  full  of  dead  hobbies,"  he  once  remarked, 
when  conversation  turned  upon  hobbies  ;  "  you  think  you 
will  come  back  to  a  hobby,  but  you  never  do."  The 
friend  who  has  recorded  this  autobiographic  scrap 
continues  :  "  There  is  one  hobby  which  he  has  managed 
to  keep  full  of  life,  and  that  is  the  collecting  of  old 
carved-oak  furniture.  Hall,  dining-room,  and  study  bear 
witness  to  the  vitality  of  this  hobby,  which  is  fed  with 
the  proceeds  of  magazine  articles.  Pointing  between  the 
clouds  of  smoke  to  a  handsome  oak  cabinet  in  the  study 
— sacred  to  tobacco,  cigars,  and  pipes — he  confessed, 
'  That  was  an  article  in  Good  Words'  and  then, 
indicating  a  massive  oak  table  in  another  part  of  the 
room,  he  added,  'and  that  was  an  article  somewhere 
else.'" 

In  the  highest  sense,  a  man's  extra-professional  reading 
may  be  classified  among  his  recreations,  and,  as  Drummond 
was  widely  read  in  many  fields  of  literature  outside  that 
of  science,  we  may  glance  here  at  the  books  and  authors 
that,  at  one  time  or  another,  he  acknowledged  his 
indebtedness  to. 

We  have  seen  in  an  earlier  chapter  that  Euskin, 
Emerson,  George  Eliot,  Channing,  Eobertson  of  Brighton, 
and  Besant  and  Eice,  provided  his  staple  literature  in 
his  student-days.  At  that  time,  too,  he  made  the 
acquaintance    of    such    classics    as    Lamb's    Essays   and 


220  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

Carlyle's  Sartor  Besartus.  He  read  widely  in  poetry,  in 
the  works  of  such  authors  as  Cowley,  Pope,  Byron,  and 
Russell  Lowell,  and  found  nourishment  and  intellectual 
suggestion  in  Browning's  Bing  and  the  Booh  To  the 
Autocrat  he  rendered  willing  homage.  His  indebted- 
ness to  R.  H.  Hutton's  Essays  was  frequently  acknow- 
ledged, and  he  was  wont  to  declare  his  opinion  that 
Hutton's  Essay  on  "  Goethe  "  was  the  finest  piece  of  criti- 
cal writing  that  had  been  produced  in  the  course  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  used  to  recommend  his  students 
to  read  Hutton's  Essay  on  "The  Hard  Church."  "A 
man,"  he  said,  "  may  be  a  Broad  Churchman,  or  a  High 
Churchman,  or  a  Low  Churchman,  and  in  any  of  these 
positions  I  can  find  points  of  contact  with  him ;  but 
*  the  Hard  Church  '  is  the  worst  of  all  heresies."  Other 
books  mentioned  by  him  as  having  influenced  him  in 
early  years  were  The  Bclipse  of  Faith,  Shairp's  The  Poetio 
Interpretation  of  Nature,  and  John  Pulsford's  Quiet 
Hours. 

In  later  years  he  added  the  appreciation  of  George 
Eliot's  poetry  to  his  previous  admiration  for  her  more 
important  novels,  and  in  George  Macdonald  he  found  "  a 
real  teacher."  George  Meredith,  Victor  Hugo, — "  whose 
writings  contain  as  much  as  those  of  George  Meredith, 
and  more," — and  Eckermann's  Conversations  of  Goethe 
were  also  included  in  the  spoils  of  his  mature  reading. 
From  Browning  he  never  parted.  In  humorous  writing, 
his  tastes  varied.  At  one  time  Mark  Twain  was  his 
acknowledged  favourite  ;  at  another,  Artemus  Ward  held 
the  place  of  honour. 

Erom  first  to  last,  these  various  authors  helped  to 
foster  a  quick  and  sensitive  taste  for  literary  art,  gave 
him  guidance  to  a  graceful  and  lucid  style  of  writing, 
and  qualified  him  to  meet  on  one  side  more  the  numbers 
of    men   whose  lives  he  sought   to  influence   for  good. 


HIS  RECREATIONS  221 

Most  probably  this  schooling  was  all  innocent  of  utili- 
tarian purpose :  without  much  anxiety  or  effort  on  his 
part,  his  reading  supplied  his  mind  with  the  recreation 
it  sought,  and,  at  the  same  time,  furnished  the  equip- 
ment of  which  he  could  make  such  good  use. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  Arrest  of  Life. 

IN  response  to  a  request  for  assistance  in  a  religious 
eifort  in  which  he  had  taken  some  interest, 
Drummond,  on  31st  January  1895,  wrote:  "I  have 
delayed  writing,  owing  to  the  fact  that  I  cannot  yet 
decide  whether  I  can  come  to  Edinburgh  this  winter  at 
all.  It  is  by  no  means  certain — that  is  all  I  can  say. 
Please  mention  this  to  no  one,  as  I  have  not  yet  told 
anyone  that  the  matter  was  in  doubt." 

It  is  now  known  that  he  had  been  suffering  a  good 
deal  of  pain  for  some  weeks  before  the  letter,  from 
which  we  quote  above,  was  penned.  At  first  the  doctors 
attributed  his  illness  to  rheumatism  and  catarrh  of  the 
stomach. 

Although  he  manfully  faced  his  class  for  a  time, 
sometimes  getting  a  "ruff"  from  his  students  when  they 
saw  that  he  was  suffering,  it  was  only  with  the  assistance 
of  his  friends  that  he  got  through  the  duties  of  his 
chair  for  the  session  1894-95,  and  in  April  1895,  on 
the  advice  of  his  Edinburgh  physicians,  went  to  Dax  in 
the  Pyrenees.  A  stay  of  three  months  at  that  sanatorium 
did  nothing  to  restore  his  health,  and  he  returned  to 
Scotland  in  July.  Thence  he  was  removed  to  Tunbridge 
Wells,  with  the  hope  that  he  might  winter  in  the  South 
of  France.  That  hope  was  never  realised.  He  gradually 
became  weaker,  suffering    great  pain  with  little  inter- 


THE  ARREST  OF  LIFE  223 

mission  ;  his  disease  seized  on  the  muscles  and  framework 
of  the  trunk  of  the  body,  and  he  became  so  helpless  that 
he  required  the  constant  services  of  an  attendant,  and 
was  seldom  able  to  leave  his  bed.  His  malady  baffled 
the  most  skilful  medical  men  of  the  day.  It  was 
ultimately  diagnosed  as  a  chronic  disease  of  the  bones, 
hitherto  unknown  to  British  physicians,  and  supposed  to 
have  been  contracted  in  the  African  forests  more  than 
ten  years  before. 

To  a  man  who  had  never  known  a  day's  ill-health, 
this  sudden  fiery  trial  of  pain  must  have  been  dreadful ; 
but,  from  all  accounts,  his  friends  never  heard  a  murmur. 
"  His  illness,"  says  the  Eev.  D.  M.  Eoss,  "  was  but  a 
fresh  opportunity  for  the  revelation  of  the  beauty  of  his 
character,  and  the  charm  of  his  personality.  To  the 
last  he  kept  up  his  interest  in  what  was  going  on  in  the 
intellectual  and  political  world,  and  his  interest  in  the 
movements  of  his  friends  was  as  lively  as  if  he  had  been 
the  strong  caring  for  the  weak.  His  sickroom  was,  as 
I  have  said,  a  kind  of  temple,  where  one  was  made 
aware  of  the  sacred  beauty  of  a  spirit  that  had  triumphed 
over  earth's  sufferings  and  disappointments.  '  Here  I 
am,'  he  said  to  me  on  my  last  visit  to  him  in  December, 
— '  here  I  am,  getting  kindness  upon  kindness  from  my 
friends  and  giving  nothing  in  return.'  Little  did  he 
suspect  how  much  he  gave  his  friends  in  an  hour's  talk 
from  his  air-couch."  One  of  his  student-friends  after- 
wards wrote :  "  The  past  two  years  of  his  suffering, 
marked  by  continual  patience,  unselfishness,  and  uncom- 
plaining endurance,  appeal  to  me  even  more  strongly 
than  all  his  years  of  active  service.  They  served  to 
draw  out  the  deepest  affection  and  respect  of  my  whole 
nature.  The  past  years  have  been  reviewed  by  me  in 
these  few  days,  and  my  heart  is  filled  with  the  memory 
of  his  great  service  to  me,  of  his  constant  friendship  and 


224  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

sympathy.  I  owe  him  more  than  I  do  any  other  mortal, 
and  I  sometimes  shudder  to  think  of  the  probable  course 
of  my  life  had  he  not  come  into  it  twelve  years  ago." 

"  His  kindly  humour  never  failed  him,"  says  Mr. 
Eoss.  "At  Christmas  1895  he  sent  his  friends  as  a 
Christmas  card  a  photograph  of  himself  in  a  bath-chair, 
with  these  words  written  in  pencil  underneath :  *  The 
Descent  of  Man.'  In  his  pain  and  weariness  a  good 
story  was  a  physical  fillip ;  his  sickroom  became  a  sort 
of  centre  for  the  receiving  and  distributing  of  stories." 
Dr.  John  Watson  recalls  a  welcome  received  from 
Drummond.  "  Don't  touch  me,  please ;  I  can't  shake 
hands,  but  I've  saved  up  a  first-rate  story  for  you." 
"  Partly,"  comments  Dr.  Watson,  "  this  was  his  human 
joyousness,  to  whom  the  absurdities  of  life  were  now 
dear;  partly  it  was  his  bravery,  who  knew  that  the 
sight  of  him  brought  so  low  might  be  too  much  for  a 
friend.  His  patience  and  sweetness  continued  to  the 
end,  and  he  died  as  one  who  had  tasted  the  joy  of  living, 
and  was  satisfied." 

In  the  autumn  of  1896  a  very  distinct  improvement 
in  the  condition  of  the  sufferer  was  manifested, — an 
improvement  real  enough  to  lead  the  patient  himself, 
in  hopeful  spirit,  to  say  that  he  would  be  at  his  work 
again  before  many  months  had  passed, — but  his  body 
was  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  effects  of  a  chill  which 
he  caught  in  March  following.  "  A  relapse  on  the 
fourth  day  before  his  death  gave  the  fatal  signal,  and 
quickly  following  messages  prepared  us  for  the  worst. 
Then  came  the  final  word  from  his  friend  and  physician : 
'  Henry  has  crossed  the  bar.'  " 

Drummond  died  on  11th  March,  and  four  days  later 
his  relatives  and  many  of  his  friends  gathered  in  Stirling 
to  pay  the  last  rites  to  his  remains.  An  impressive 
funeral  service  was  conducted  in  the  Free  North  Church 


THE  ARREST  OF  LIFE  225 

by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Stalker,  assisted  by  Professor  George 
Adam  Smith  and  the  Eev.  Dr.  Alexander  Whyte  of 
Edinburgh ;  and  then  the  cortege  passed  up  to  the 
wind  -  swept  churchyard  on  the  Castle  rock,  and  the 
mourners  committed  the  sacred  ashes  of  their  departed 
friend  to  the  grave,  in  the  sure  and  certain  hope  of 
the  resurrection  to  eternal  life.  As  was  most  fitting, 
a  detachment  of  the  Boys'  Brigade  formed  part  of  the 
funeral  procession,  and  the  short  service  at  the  grave 
was  concluded  by  the  sounding  of  "  The  Last  Post "  by 
a  Boys'  Brigade  bugler. 

On  the  following  Sunday,  Professor  Marcus  Dods, 
Drummond's  former  minister  and  his  intimate  friend, 
preached  the  memorial  sermon  in  the  Free  North 
Church,  Stirling,  and  put  the  copestone  upon  the  tribute 
which  Drummond's  friends  had  hastened  to  pay  to  his 
memory.  As  the  present  sketch  was  originally  planned, 
we  had  intended  to  conclude  this  chapter  in  a  summing 
up  or  appreciation  of  the  life-work  and  character  of 
Professor  Drummond.  But  Dr.  Dods'  sermon  is  at 
once  a  eulogy  and  an  appreciation  so  adequate  that  the 
following  quotations  from  it  may  fitly  bring  the  volume 
to  a  close : — 

"  Death  has  removed  one  of  the  most  widely  known, 
best  loved,  and  most  influential  of  our  contemporaries. 
Probably  there  is  no  man  of  our  time,  be  he  statesman, 
philosopher,  poet,  or  novelist,  whose  words  have  been 
more  widely  read,  or  read  with  intenser  eagerness  and 
with  greater  spiritual  profit.  Perhaps  no  man  of  this 
generation  was  endowed  with  so  distinctive  an  individu- 
ality, and  exercised  so  unique  an  influence  as  Henry 
Drummond.  The  blank  he  leaves  it  is  impossible  to 
fill.  So  singular  a  combination  of  gifts  as  he  possessed 
will  not  be  found  twice  in  a  century.  And  happily 
15 


226  HENRY  DRUMMOND 

there  went  along  with  these  exceptional  gifts  an 
instinct  which  forbade  him  to  tie  himself  to  the 
ordinary  methods,  or  professions,  or  labours  of  this 
world.  Not  more  original  were  his  qualities  than  his 
mode  of  using  them.  He  lived  out  his  own — a  natural, 
human  life,  untrammelled  by  all  conventionalism  and 
professionalism.  He  recognised  with  remarkable  pre- 
cision the  work  he  could  do,  and  never  suffered  himself, 
even  by  the  ill-advised  entreaties  of  friendship,  to  be 
drawn  aside  into  any  labour  or  sphere  into  which  his 
own  qualities  did  not  call  him.  In  nothing  was  his 
strength  of  character  more  habitually  or  more  con- 
vincingly exhibited.  The  detachment  from  the  ordinary 
methods  and  engagements  of  our  professional  and  social 
life,  the  independence  with  which  he  broke  out  a  path 
for  himself,  largely  contributed  to  his  influence.  .  .  . 

"  With  no  apparent  effort,  certainly  with  no  shade 
of  ostentation,  he  won  the  confidence  of  those  who 
sought  his  help.  The  novel  type  of  religious  char- 
acter he  manifested,  unlocked  the  reserve  of  men 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  shrink  from  the  sancti- 
monious and  professional  guise  in  which  religion  had 
previously  appeared  to  them.  The  sense,  the  breadth, 
the  quick  humour,  the  sincerity,  the  eagerness  to  be 
of  service,  which  were  apparent  to  all  who  were  even 
slightly  acquainted  with  him,  lent  a  new  attraction  to 
religion. 

"  The  help  thus  afforded  to  individuals,  the  strengthen- 
ing and  deepening  of  religious  convictions  throughout 
our  own  and  other  lands,  the  fresh  impulse  given  to 
Christian  faith  by  this  one  man's  work  and  char- 
acter, the  good  he  has  left  behind  him — these  things 
are  simply  incalculable.  Not  only  as  teacher  but  as 
friend  was  Professor  Drummond  unusually  widely 
known,  and  to  those  who  enjoyed  his  friendship  it  was 


THE  ARREST  OF  LIFE  227 

one  of  the  richest  elements  in  their  life.  To  anyone 
who  had  need  of  him,  he  seemed  to  have  no  concerns 
of  his  own  to  attend  to,  he  was  wholly  at  the  disposal 
of  those  whom  he  could  help.  It  was  this  active  and 
self-forgetting  sympathy,  this  sensitiveness  to  the  con- 
dition of  everyone  he  met,  which  won  the  heart  of  peer 
and  peasant,  which  made  him  the  most  delightful  of 
companions  and  the  most  serviceable  of  friends. 

"  His  presence  was  bright  and  exhilarating  as  sunshine. 
An  even  happiness  and  disengagement  from  all  selfish 
care  were  his  characteristics.  Sometimes  one  thought 
that  with  his  brilliant  gifts,  his  great  opportunities,  his 
rare  success,  it  was  easy  for  him  to  be  happy ;  but 
his  prolonged  and  painful  illness  has  shown  us  that  his 
happiness  was  far  more  surely  founded.  Penetrate  as 
deeply  as  you  might  into  his  nature,  and  scrutinise  it 
as  keenly,  you  never  met  anything  to  disappoint,  any- 
thing to  incline  you  to  suspend  your  judgment  or 
modify  your  verdict  that  here  you  had  a  man  as  nearly 
perfect  as  you  had  ever  known  anyone  to  be.  To  see 
him  in  unguarded  moments  was  only  to  see  new  evi- 
dence of  the  absolute  purity  and  nobility  of  his  nature, 
to  see  him  in  trying  circumstances  was  only  to  have  his 
serenity  and  soundness  of  spirit  thrown  into  stronger 
relief. 

"  And  at  the  heart  of  all  lay  his  profound  religious 
reverence,  his  unreserved  acceptance  of  Christ  and 
of  Christ's  idea  and  law  of  life.  Little  concerned 
about  the  formalities  of  religion,  ashamed  of  some  of 
the  popular  travesties  of  Christianity,  he  was  through 
and  through,  first  of  all  and  last  of  all,  a  follower  and 
a  subject  of  Christ." 


APPENDIX 


NOTES   FOR  A   BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I.  PUBLISHED  WRITINGS  AND  ADDRESSES. 

1.  Books  and  Pamphlets. 

2.  Magazine  Articles  and  Reviews. 

II.  BOOKS,  PAMPHLETS,  MAGAZINE  ARTICLES,  AND 
REVIEWS,  IN  CRITICISM  OF  PROFESSOR  DRUM- 
MOND'S  WRITINGS. 

1.  Cbiticism   of    "Natural   Law   in  the   Spiritual 

World." 

(a)  Books  and  PamjphUts. 

(b)  Magazine  Articles  and  Revieios. 

2.  Criticism  of  "The  Ascent  of  Man." 

3.  Miscellaneous. 

III.  BIOGRAPHY. 


S39 


NOTES  FOE  A  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I.  PUBLISHED  WEITINGS  AND  ADDEESSES. 

1.  Books  and  Pamphlets. 

Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World.  By  Henry  Drummond, 
P.E.S.E.,  F.G.S.     London.     1883.     Svo,  xxiv,  414  pp. 

Tropical  Africa.  By  Henry  Drummond,  F.E.S.E.,  F.G.S. 
With  Maps  and  Illustrations.  London.  1888.  8vo, 
228  pp. 

The  Unsearchable  Eiches  of  Christ,  and  other  Sermons.  By 
John  F.  Ewing,  M.A.  With  a  Biographical  Sketch  by 
Henry  Drummond,  LL.D.,  F.E.S.E.,  F.G.S.  London. 
1890.     8vo,  xxxiii,  309  pp. 

The  Lowell  Lectures  on  the  Ascent  of  Man.  By  Henry 
Drummond.     London.     1894.     8vo,  444  pp. 

Baxter's   Second   Innings.      Specially  reported   for  the  

School  Eleven.     London.     58  pp. 

The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World,  and  other  Addresses.  By 
Henry  Drummond.     London.     1894.     8vo,  286  pp. 

Note. — This  volume  contains  five  Addresses,  previously 
published  separately,  viz. : — 

"  The  Greatest  Thing  in  the  World."     1889. 
"PaxYobiscum."     1890. 
"The  Programme  of  Christianity."     1891. 
"  The  City  without  a  Church."     1892. 
"The  Changed  Life."     1893. 
231 


232  APPENDIX 

The  Monkey  that  would  not  Kill.  Stories  by  Henry  Drum- 
mond.     London.     1898.     8vo,  115  pp. 

The  Ideal  Life,  and  other  Unpublished  Addresses.  By  Henry 
Drummond,  F.R.S.E.  With  Memorial  Sketches  by  W. 
Robertson  Nicoll  and  Ian  Maclaren.  London.  1897. 
8vo,  314  pp. 

The  New  Evangelism,  and  other  Papers.  By  Henry  Drum- 
mond, author  of  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World," 
"The  Ideal  Life,"  etc.     London.     1899.     8 vo,  210  pp. 

Addresses.  By  Henry  Drummond.  Introductory  Note  by 
D.  L.  Moody.     Chicago,     n.d.     8vo,  122  pp. 

Stones  Rolled  Away,  and  other  Addresses  to  Young  Men 
delivered  in  America.  By  Henry  Drummond,  F.R.S.E., 
F.G.S.,  LL.D.,  author  of  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,"  "The  Ascent  of  Man,"  "The  Greatest  Thing 
in  the  World,"  "Tropical  Africa,"  etc.  Introduction  by 
Luther  Hess  Waring.     London.     1900.     8vo,  184  pp. 

2.  Magazine  Akticles  and  Reviews. 
Boys'  Brigade,  The.     By  Professor  Henry  Drummond.     (Good 
Words,  1891,  32  :  93.) 

Note. — The  same  article  appeared  in  M'Cflure's  Magazine, 
December  1893,  2  :  68. 

Contribution   of    Science   to    Christianity,    The.      By   Henry 
Drummond.      (Expositor,  1885,  Third  Series,  1 :  28  and 
102.) 
Note. — Reprinted  in  TJie  New  Evangelism. 

Interviews  by  Post — Professor  Henry  Drummond  on  "  Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  (British  Weekly,  7th  and 
14th  January  1887.) 

Life  of  a  Geologist,  The.  Review  of  "  Memoir  of  Sir  Andrew 
Crombie  Ramsay."     (Bookman,  March  1895,  7  :  173.) 

Mr.  Gladstone  and  Genesis.  Articles  by  T.  H.  Huxley  and 
Henry  Drummond.  (Nineteenth  Century,  February  1886, 
19 :  206.) 


NOTES  FOR  A  BIBLIOGRAPHY  233 

Mr  Moody,  Some  Impressions  and  Facts.  By  Henry  Drum- 
mond.  {M'Clure's  Magazine,  December  1894  and  January 
1895,  4:55,  188.) 

!N"atural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  "World.  By  Professor  Henry 
Drummond,  F.KS.E.,  F.G.S.  {Clerical  World,  1881-82, 
1:  2,  149,  389;  2:  115,  193.) 

Note. — Five  articles  entitled,  "  Degeneration  —  If  We 
neglect,"  "Biogenesis,"  "Nature  abhors  a  Vacuum," 
"Parasitism,"  " Parasitism — continued." 

Professor  Marcus  Dods.  By  Henry  Drummond.  {Expositor, 
July  1889,  Third  Series,  10 :  65.) 

Review  of  Bishop  Temple's  Bampton  Lectures  for  1884.  On 
the  Relations  between  Science  and  Religion.  By  Henry 
Drummond.     {Expositor,  1885,  Third  Series,  1 :  77.) 

Talk  about  Books,  A.  By  Professor  Drummond.  {Melbourne 
University  Revietv,  August  1890.  Reprinted,  Great 
Tlioughts,  14 :  294.) 

Visit  to  Mr.  Moody  and  Mr.  Sankey,  A.  By  Professor  Henry 
Drummond.    Glasgow.    {Christian,  20th  November  1879.) 

"Zambesi."  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  h.v.  Contributed  by 
Henry  Drummond. 


IL  BOOKS,  PAMPHLETS,  MAGAZINE  ARTICLES, 
AND  REVIEWS,  IN  CRITICISM  OF  PROFESSOR 
DRUMMOND'S  WRITINGS. 

(1)  Criticism  of  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World." 

(a)  Books  and  Pamphlets. 

A  Critical  Analysis  of  Drummond's  "Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World."  With  a  Reply  to  some  of  its  Con- 
clusions.    By  E.  C.  Lamed.     Chicago. 

An  Examination  of  Mr.  Henry  Drummond's  Work,  "Natural 


234  APPENDIX 

Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."    By  William  Woods  Smyth. 
London,     n.d.     8vo,  35  pp. 

Are  Laws  the  same  in  the  ISTatural  and  Spiritual  World  ?  By 
A.  C.  Denholm.     Kilmarnock. 

Are  the  l^atural  and  Spiritual  Worlds  one  in  Law?  By 
George  F.  Magoun,  D.D.  Iowa  College.  Reprinted  from 
the  Bihliotheca  Sacra. 

Biological  Eeligion.  An  Essay  in  Criticism  of  Professor  Henry 
Drummond's  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By 
T.  Campbell  Finlayson.     Manchester.     1885.     8vo. 

Drifting  Away.  A  few  Remarks  on  Professor  Drummond's 
Search  for  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By 
the  Hon.  Philip  Carteret  Hill,  D.C.L.  London,  n.d. 
8vo,  46  pp. 

Drummond  on  Miracles.  A  Critique  on  "  Natural  Law  in  the 
Spiritual  World."     Paisley. 

Fragmentary  Thoughts,  suggested  by  the  perusal  of  a  Work 
entitled  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By  the 
Rev.  Edward  Young.     London.     1885.     8vo. 

Gospels  of  Yesterday :  Drummond,  Spencer,  Arnold.  By 
Robert  A.  Watson,  M.A.     London.     1888.     8vo. 

Modern  Science  and  Modern  Thought.  Third  Edition,  con- 
taining Supplemental  Chapter  on  Gladstone's  "  Dawn  of 
Creation "  and  "  Proem  of  Genesis,"  and  on  Drummond's 
"Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By  S.  Laing. 
London.     1886.     8vo. 

Mr.  Drummond's  Book.  With  special  references  to  Biogenesis. 
Shrewsbury. 

"  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  A  Review  reprinted, 
with  some  additions,  from  TJce  Church  Eclectic  of  March 
1885.     London.     1888.     8vo,  12  pp. 

No  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  A  Review  of 
Mr.  Henry  Drummond's  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World."  By  F.  J.  Bodfield  Hooper,  B.A.  London  1884 
8vo,  48  pp. 


NOTES  FOR  A  BIBLIOGRAPHY  235 

On  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By  a  Brother  of 
the  Natural  Man.     Paisley.     1885.     8vo,  67  pp. 

Professor  Drummond  and  Miracles.  A  Critique  of  "  Natural 
Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By  a  Layman.  London. 
1885.     8vo.     (Pamphlet.) 

Kemarks  on  a  book  entitled  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World,"  by  Henry  Drummond,  F.R.S.I.  (sic),  F.G.S., 
being  the  substance  of  Four  Lectures  given  in  London.  By 
Benjamin  Wills  Newton.     London.     8vo,  192  pp. 

Eeview  of  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  By 
J.  B.  Fry. 

The  Gospel  of  Evolution.  An  Examination  of  Professor 
Henry  Drummond's  "Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World."  By  William  Adamson,  D.D.,  Edinburgh. 
Edinburgh.     1885.     8vo,  32  pp. 

The  Laws  of  Nature  and  the  Laws  of  God.  A  Eeply  to 
Professor  Drummond.  By  Samuel  Cockburn,  M.D., 
L.K.C.S.E.     London.     1886.     8vo. 

The  Science  and  Religion  of  Professor  Drummond.  Tested  by 
Robert  R.  Kalley,  D.D.,  Edinburgh.     1888.     8vo,  15  pp. 

The  Survival  of  the  Fittest  and  Salvation  of  the  Few.  An 
Examination  of  "  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World." 
By  Alexander  S.  Wilson,  M.A.,  B.Sc.  Paisley.  1887. 
8vo. 

(b)  Magazine  Articles  and  Reviews. 

Are  the  Natural  and  Spiritual  Worlds  one  in'  Law?  By 
G.  F.  ISIagoun,  D.D.  {British  and  Foreign  Evangelical 
Review,  July,  1885,  34  :  543.) 

Biogenesis  and  Degeneration.  By  Peloni  Almoni.  {Expositor, 
January,  1884,  Second  Series,  7  :  18.) 

"Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World."  A  Defence. 
{Expositor,  1885,  Third  Series,  1 :   241  and  347.) 


236  APPENDIX 

Professor  Drummond's   New   Scientific    Gospel.      By   R.    A.. 

Watson.     {Contemporary  Revieto,  March  1885,  47  :  392.) 
Note. — Reprinted  in  "  Gospels  of  Yesterday  :  Drummondj 

Spencer,  Arnold."     {Supra.) 
See  also  the  following  Reviews  : — 

British  Quarterhj,  July  1883,  78:  245. 

Critic,  17th  November  1883. 

Guardian,  24th  September  1884. 

Knoioledge,  26th  September  1884,  6  :  263. 

Literary  Churchman,  8th  June  1883,  29  :  244. 

London  Quarterly  Review,  April  1884,  62  :  39. 

Spectator,  4th  August  1883. 

The  Month,  April  1885,  Third  Series,  53  :  529. 


(2)  Criticism  of  "The  Ascent  of  Man." 

Professor  Drummond's  "Ascent  of  Man"  and  Principal 
Fairbairn's  "Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology," 
examined  in  the  Light  of  Science  and  Revelation.  By 
Professor  Watts,  D.D.,  LL.D.     Edinburgh,     n.d.     8vo. 

The  "Ascent  of  Man."  Its  note  of  Theology.  By  tlie 
Very  Rev.  Principal  Hutton,  D.D.  Paisley,  n.d.  12mo, 
45  pp. 

Pseudo-Philosophy  at  the  End  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  By 
Hugh  Mortimer  Cecil.  "  An  Irrationalist  Trio :  Kidd, 
Drummond,  Balfour."     London.     1897.     8vo. 


Professor  Henry  Drummond's  Discovery.  By  Mrs.  Lynn 
Linton.  {Fortnightly  Revieic,  September  1894,  New 
Series,  56  :  448.) 

Scientists  and  Social  Purity.  By  W.  J.  Corbet,  M.P.,  M.R.I.A. 
{Westminster  Review,  November  1895,  144  :  574.) 

The  New  Evolution.  By  Dr.  Washington  Gladden.  {M'Clure'a 
Magazine,  August  1894,  3  :  235.) 


NOTES  FOR  A  BIBLIOGRAPHY  237 

See  also  the  following  Reviews  : — 

British  Weekly,  24th  May  1894.     (Rev.  Professor  Iverach, 
D.D.) 

Critic,  13th  October  1894,  22  :  235. 

Critical  Revieiv,  July  1894,  4:  228.     (Professor  John  G. 
M'Kendrick,  M.D.) 

Expositor,  July  1894,  Fourth  Series,  10  :  57.     (Benjamin 
Kidd.) 

Our  Day,  1894,  13  :  351 

Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Review,  January  1895,  6  :  136. 
(Henry  C.  Minton.) 

Westminster  Review,  October  1894,  142 :  431.     (Thomas 
E.  Mayne.) 


(3)  Miscellaneous. 

Reconciliation  before  Rest.  Professor  Drummond's  "  Pax 
Vobiscum  "  and  "The  Peace  of  Christ."  A  Review.  By 
Frank  H.  White.     London.     1891.     (Pamphlet.) 

The  Foundation  of  Rock  or  Sand— Which  1  A  Reply  to  "  The 
Greatest  Thing  in  the  World."  By  General  Sir  Robert 
Phayre,  K.C.B.     London,     n.d.     8vo. 

The  Strangest  Thing  in  the  World.  "A  Gospel  with  the 
Gospel  omitted."  By  Charles  Bullock.  London.  1891. 
8vo. 


Henry  Drummond  and  his  Books.     By  Henry  M.  Simmons. 
{New  World,  Boston,  September  1897,  6  :  485.) 

Henry  Drummond  as  a  Religious   Teacher.     {Spectator,  30th 
April  1898,  80  :  595.) 

Professor  Drummond.     An  Appreciation.     By  J.  E.  Hodder- 
Williams.     {Neio  Century  Revieiv,  1897,  1  :  354.) 


238  APPENDIX 

Professor  Pnimmond  on  Missions.     {Christian,  lilst  November 
181)0.) 

Tlie  late  Professor  Drummond's  Popularity.     (Academy,  '29th 
January  1898,  53  :  114.) 


III.   BIOGRAPHY. 

The  Tiife  of  llonry  Druinmond.  By  George  Adam  Smith. 
London.      1899.     8vo,  4G9  pp.  and  Appendix. 

An  ICvening  with  Professor  Drummond.  By  Hamish  Hendry. 
{Voimg  Man,  August  1894,  8  :  255.) 

Henry  Druniniond.  By  the  Rev.  John  Watson,  D.D.  (Tan 
Maclaren).  {North  American  Review,  May  1897,  164: 
51;?.) 

Note. — Reprinted  as  a  Memorial  Sketch  in  "The  Ideal 
Life,"  willi  ccrtHin  omissions. 

Henry  Driiunnond.  By  James  Stalker.  {Expositor,  April 
1897,  Fifth  Series,  5  :  286.) 

Henry  Drummond.  By  W.  Robertson  Nicoll.  {Contemporary 
Review,  April  1897,  71  :  502.) 

Note. — The  same  article  apjiean^d  in  Christian  Litera- 
ture, LitteVs  Litdntj  A<je,  and  Kclectie  Maijazine.  It  was 
also  reprinted  as  a  Memorial  Sketch  in  "The  Ideal 
Life." 

Portraits  of  Drumnu)nd.  See  M'Clure's  Magazine,  1:1;  and 
2  :  137. 

Professor  Drummond.     {Bookman,  October  1892,  3:  14.) 

Professor  Drummond  as  1  knew  Him.  By  Rev.  D.  M.  Ross. 
{Tfiiiiile  Maija:i>ie,  July  1897,  1 :  723.) 

Professor  Drummond  at  Chautauqua.  {The  Critic,  New  York, 
15th  July  1893,  20:41.) 

Professor  Drummond.  By  Arthur  Warren.  (  Woman  at  Home, 
April  1894,  2  :  1.) 


NOTES   FOR  A  BIBLIOGRAPHY  239 

Profopsor  Druninitnnl.  By  Oiio  Avho  knows  Him.  (West- 
minster  Budget,  22iid  Juno  1894.) 

Professor  Henry  Drummond.  By  an  0V\  Student  (H.  B.). 
{Woman  at  Home,  June  1897,  5  :  742.) 

Professor  Henry  Drummond,  F.R.G.S.  (.•?«>.).  By  W.  J. 
Dawson.     {Youmj  Man,  lh\n'\\  1891,  5  :  80.) 

Professor  Drummond's  Religious  Teaching.  By  D.  M.  Ross. 
{Expositor,  May  1897,  Fifth  Series,  5  :  390.) 

Prophet  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  A.  By  Rev.  D.  Suther- 
land, Canada.  {Homiletic  Review.  New  York,  May 
1892,23:  468.) 

Science  and  Religion.  A  Talk  with  Professor  Drummond.  By 
Raymond  Blathwayt.  {Great  Thoughts,  3rd  December 
1892,  18  :  160.) 

The  late  Professor  Henry  Drummond.  Ry  the  Rev.  Professor 
Marcus  Dods.  {Student.  Edinburgh,  18th  March  1897, 
New  Series,  11  :  299.) 

See  also  the  following  Obituary  Notices : — 
Academy,  20th  ^larcli  1897. 
Bookman,  April  1897,  12:  7.     (Alex.  Macalister.) 
Atlmiamm,  20th  March  1897. 
Critic,  20tli  ]\Iarch  1897,  27  :  198. 
Primitive  Methodist  Quarterly,  July  1897,  19  :  466. 


i:^rDEX 


Aberdeen,  Earl  and  Countess  of, 

86,  92,  124,  182. 
Addresses,  in  1882,  63. 

In  1885,  105. 
Africa,  exploration  in,  77  ff. 
African  Lakes  Company,  78,  83. 
African  Missions,  on,  83. 
America,  visits  to,  116  ff. 

Rocky  Mountains,  116. 

Moody  and  Sankey  at  Cleveland, 
117. 

Second  visit  (1887),  120. 

Nortbfield,  121,  122,  124. 

Chautauqua,  121,  123. 

American  Universities,  122. 

Third  visit  (1893),  123  ff. 

Harvard  and  Amherst,  123. 

Evangelical    Alliance    Congress, 
124. 
Amherst  University,  U.S.A.,  5. 
Analogy,  Di'ummond  and,  46,  76. 
Anxious  Inquirer,  James's,  6. 
Arran,  54. 

Ascent  of  Man,  165  ff. 
Assembly,    Free    Church    General, 

83,  159,  161,  172. 
Associated  Workers'  League,  93. 
Australian  Colleges,  visit  to,  127  ff. 

Balfour,  Mr.  A.  J.,  92. 
Barbour,  Mrs.  George,  43. 
Barbour,  Rev.  Robert,  44,  47. 
i6 


"  Baxter,"  Letters  to,  188. 
Baxter's  Second  Innings,  186,  188, 

191. 
Bibliograjihy,  Notes  for  a,  229. 
Blantyre  Mission,  79,  83. 
Bonn  University,  111. 
Booklets,  145  ff. 
Bookman,  177. 
Books,  219. 

On  tlie  influence  of,  10  ff. 
Boston,  U.S.A.,  117,  165,  203. 
Boys  and  girls,  with,  180  ff. 
Boys'  Brigade,  60,  187  11'. 

Speeches  on  the,  204  ff. 

Statistics  of,  217. 

At  funeral,  225. 
Boys'  Club,  interest  in,  185. 
British  Association,  176. 
Butcher,  Professor,  97. 

Canada,  124. 

Canal  Boatmen's  Friendly  Society, 

61. 
Cannibals,  South  Sea,  143. 
Chair,  Drummond's,  49  ff. 
Charteris,  Professor,  96. 
Chess,  219. 
China,  132. 
Clerical  World,  articles  in,  66,  69, 

71,  74. 
Conduct  and  religion,    individual, 

33. 


242 


INDEX 


Conduct  of  a  Young  Men's  Meet- 
ing, on,  34. 

Criticism,  Drummond's  attitude 
towards,  153. 

Curzon,  Lord,  92. 

Dawson,  Rev.  W.  J.,  146. 
Degree  ofLL.D.,  123. 
Denney,  Rev.  Professor,  75. 
Dods,   Rev.    Dr.    Marcus,   58,   60, 

160,  161,  225, 
DiiuMMOND,  Henry — 
His  parents,  2. 
Birth,  3. 
A  real  boy,  4. 
Schoolmates,  5. 
First  religious  experience,  5. 
Early  scieutilic  bent,  6. 
Choice  of  occupation,  6. 
Goes  to  University,  7. 
Practical  jokes,  16. 
Mesmeric  powers,  17. 
Scientific  studies,  19. 
Study  at  Tubingen,  20. 
On  "Spiritual  Diagnosis,"  22. 
Suspends     studies      and     joins 

Moody,  25. 
Deputation  work,  25. 

In  Sunderland,  25. 

In  Newcastle,  26. 

In  Belfast  and  Dublin,  26. 

In  Manchester,  26. 

In  Sheffield,  27. 

In  Liverpool,  27,  29. 

In  London,  28. 
On  methods  of  work,  29. 
Evangelism  his  master- passion, 

41. 
Return  to  College,  44. 
Assistant  at  Barclay  Church,  46. 
Polmont  Mission,  47. 
Lectureship,  48. 
Malta,  48. 
Ordination,  52. 
Not  "Reverend  "  63. 


Possilpark  Mission,  .58,  63,  67. 
Brooniielaw  Mission,  60. 
With  Moody,  in  1882,  in  Glas- 
gow,  63. 

In  Aberdeen,  63. 

In  Dundee,  63. 

In  Dumfries,  63. 

At  Cardiff,  64. 

At  Newport,  64. 

In  Plymouth,  64. 

In  London,  65. 
Nuiural  Law,  66  ff. 
West  End  meetings,  86  ff. 
At  Holyrood,  92. 
At  Hublin  Castle,  93. 
With  Mr.  Gladstone,  93. 
Among  the  Edinburgh  students, 

97  ff. 
His  personality,  99. 
His  methods  of  work,  101. 
The  personal  encounter,  102. 
His  message,  105. 
Appreciation,  114. 
In  America,  116  tf. 
In  Australia,  127  ff. 
In  China,  132. 
In  Japan,  133. 
In  New  Hebrides,  137  ff. 
Booklets,  145  ff. 
Misunderstood,  164. 
Ascent  of  Man,  1 65  ff. 
Scientific  work,  175ff. 
With  boys  and  girls,  180  ff. 
Boys'  Brigade,  187  ff. 
Recreations,  218  ff. 
Illness,  222. 
Death,  224. 
Drunimond,  Henry,  senior,  2. 
Drummoud,  Peter,  2. 
Drunimond,  William,  1. 

Edinburgh     students'     revival, 

95  ff. 
Edinburgh  University  (1866),  8. 
"  Eighty-eight  Club,"  93. 


INDEX 


243 


Evangelism,  Drummond's  master- 
passion,  41. 
Evangelism,  the  crime  of,  59. 
Ewing,  Rev.  John  F.,  44,  128  ff. 
Examination  papers,  parodic,  181. 
Excursions,  class,  53. 

Fevek,  African,  80. 
First  (address),  191  ff. 

Gaiety  Club,  44. 

Gaiety  Theatre  meetings,  44. 

Geikie,  Sir  Archibald,  19,  47,  116, 

176. 
Glasgow,  evangelism  in,  56  ff. 
Glasgow  Theological  Club,  70. 
God's  Way  of  Peace,  Bonar's,  6. 
Gordon,  Rev.  Frank,  44. 

Hobbies,  219. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  117,  123. 

Hutton,  R.  H.,  220. 

Japan,  133. 

Jingo,  81,  82. 

Kanaka  traffic,  137. 

Lecturing  system,  on,  121. 

Licence,  51. 

Literary  style  and  method,  146. 

Liverpool  Convention,  29. 

Livingstone,  Dr.  and  Mrs.,  78. 

Livingstonia  Mission,  79,  83. 

Longfellow,  117. 

Love,  address  on,  64,  105,  147. 

Macalister,  Professor,  177. 
M'Gill  University,  Montreal,  55. 
Melbourne  University,  10. 
Methods  of  work,  on,  29. 
Missions,  the  problem  of  Foreign, 

133  ff.,  160. 
Monkey  thai  would  not  kill,  The, 

183. 


Montreal,  M'Gill  University,  55. 
Moody,   D.   L.,   friendship  of,  40, 
62,  155. 

On  Drummond,  25. 

Visit  to,  116. 

Invites  Drummond  to  America, 
120. 
Moody  Campaign  (1873-74),  24  ff. 
Moody  Campaign  (1881-84),  62  ff. 
Moolu,  81. 
Morning  Post,  86. 

Natural  Lato  in  the  Sjnritual 
World,  66  ff. 

Contents,  71. 

Publication,  72. 

Spectator  review,  72. 

Copies  sold,  73. 

Criticism,  74. 

Defence,  75. 

Author's  mature  opinion,  75. 
Nature  abhors  a  Vacuum,  67. 
New  College,  Edinburgh,  18. 
Newfoundland,  124. 
New  Hebrides,  visit  to,  132,  137  ff., 

177. 
Northfield,  attack  at,  122,  154. 

Onward  and  Upward  Aysociation, 

182,  191. 
Outdoor  sport,  218. 
Oxford  University,  111. 

Pall  Mall  Gazette,  138. 

Parliament,  declines  to  contest  a 
seat  in,  93. 

Philately,  219. 

Philomathic  Society,  the,  9. 

Pleasant  Sunday  Afternoon  move- 
ment, 61. 

Port-Dundas  P.S.A.,  61. 

Possilpark,  58,  63,  67. 

Preach,  refusal  to,  56. 

Programme  of  Christianity,  The, 
64,  105,  148,  151. 


244 


INDEX 


Rainy,  Principal,  51,  172. 
Religion  and  science,  152. 
Reporters    and   interviewers,    101, 

156. 
Rocky  Mountains  and  Yellowstone 

Park,  116. 
Ross,  Rev.  D.  M.,  20,  44,  162,  223. 
Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  176. 

Schoolboys,  meetings  for,  185. 

Science,  Free  Church's  attitude 
towards,  49. 

Scientific  work,  175  fF. 

Scott,  Professor  H.  M.,  46. 

Shipping  Commission,  secretaryship 
of,  93. 

Shir6,  78,  79. 

Shirwa,  Lake,  79. 

Smith,  Mr.  Stanley,  95. 

Society,  Christianity  and  the  evolu- 
tion of,  124, 

Stalker,  Rev.  Dr.  James,  5,  18,  21, 
24,  44,  46,  51,  74,  173. 

Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  4,  19, 
146. 

Stewart,  Professor  Grainger,  96. 

Stirling,  4. 

Stirling  High  School,  4,  5. 

Stirling  Observer,  contributions  to, 
16. 

Strike,  printers',  61. 

Studd,  Mr.  C.  T.,  96. 


Student  movement  in  Edinburgh, 
95  tf. 

Visit  of  Studd  and  Smith,  96. 

Drummond's  first  meeting,  97. 

The  programme,  101. 

The  addresses,  105. 

"Drummond's  Meetings,"  109. 

Deputation  work,  110,  114. 

Students'  Holiday  Mission,  111, 
Students'  Holiday  Mission,  111  if. 
Stupidity  Exam.,  53. 

Tanganyika  Forest,  80. 
Tanna,  volcano  on,  144. 
Temptation,  address  on,  64,  105. 
Theological  Society,  New  College, 

21. 
Tropical  Africa,  84,  176. 
Tubingen,  20. 

Watson,  Rev.  Dr.  John,  5,  18,  44, 
46,  162,  224. 

Wee  Willie  Winkle,  183. 
Welldon,  Bishop,  92. 
Whyte,  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander,  225. 
Will  of  God,  six  sermons  on,  46. 

World,  87. 

Young    Men's    Meeting,    how    to 
conduct  a,  34. 

Zambesi,  78, 
Zanzibar,  78. 


DATE  DUE 

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